President Obama loves railing against “subsidies for oil companies” which are nothing more than write-offs all American businesses enjoy. Yet under his watch tax subsidies and credits for “green energy” have increased exponentially. In the case of wind energy, it’s at the expense not only of the taxpayer but also of our national bird – the bald eagle. Well, he said he wanted to fundamentally transform this nation. Maybe our new national bird will be a dove.

It’s symbolically appropriate that one of President Obama’s preferred forms of “green energy” crony capitalism has the effect of killing off the national bird. The federal wind production tax credit (PTC) is mercifully set to expire on New Year’s Eve.  The PTC provides a financial boon, at great taxpayer expense, to well-connected companies that build eyesore wind farms that kill great birds of prey and pretty much anything else that flies within the range of their “green” blades.  The nonpartisan Institute for Energy Research estimates that if this cozy arrangement between big government and big business were to be extended, it would cost American taxpayers $55,000,000,000.  The fate of the PTC — and of that $55 billion— now rests with House Republicans, who would have to approve the PTC’s renewal.

The post above goes on to link John Fund at National Review Online noting that wind power is unreliable and expensive but doesn’t produce any environmental benefit. Worse still, it is actually detrimental to wildlife:

“Then there is the carnage inflicted on Mother Nature. Paul Driessen reported in the Washington Timesthat ‘the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that wind turbines kill 440,000 bald and golden eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, cranes, egrets, geese, and other birds every year in the U.S., along with countless insect-eating bats.’  The actual numbers are probably far higher. The turbine blades of the nation’s 39,000 windmills move at 100 to 200 miles per hour and can mow down anything that gets in their path.

“Over the past 25 years, an estimated 2,300 golden eagles have been killed by turbines at Altamont Pass, Calif., alone, leading to an 80 percent drop in the golden-eagle population of southern California.” (Read More)

So here we are, over $16 trillion in debt and about to hit the debt ceiling yet again, but we’re still spending billions on these green boondoggles that are killing our national bird with no upside for the environment. Not to mention how ugly these wind farms are, which is why the liberal elite who call for them then cry “Not in my back yard!”

Ugly wind farms and the carnage they create are for the rest of us – the little people who work and foot the bill for these cockamamie schemes. And they say they can’t cut the budget. Oh, holiday joy!

(Image via Heritage)

Update: Expose the Media and the First Street Journal linked – thanks!