Dear Pop:
--I think you might have been listening to Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren. Energy Companies do get tax credits for for doing things that the goverment wants, and these tax credits, in the form of 6% depreciation write offs, (most companies get 9%) are a deliberate government policy, and usually have been supported by a large number of Democrats as well as Republicans. These Energy Company Tax Credit bills have to go through the House of Representatives, which in the great majority of years has either been held by the Democrats or held narrowly by the Republicans. The same sort of situation is true for the Senate, except the Republican have held it even less frequently. So these tax credit bills did not pass themselves, it took a lot of work by Democrats and some by Republicans to get them passed. Even with tax credits the 5 largest Energy Companies have, in the last 25 years, sent more money to Washington than they have kept as profits. More like a case of the Energy Companies supporting Washington than the reverse, no?
--You will note, I hope, that a tax credit (depreciation write off) which is given for certain behaviors the Government deems desirable, reduces the tax a company pays on profits, and is offered because the company engaged in behavior the Government wants, I.E. investment in equipment. No investments and no profits, means no tax credits. A subsidy, however, can be given (and in the energy field usually is) given to a company that makes no profits at all. This is the case for virtually all of the current administration's subsidized PV, Wind, and Electric Vehicle projects, I.E. Tesla, Fisker, General Motors Volt Division, and include Solar and Wind Companies that, either have gone bankrupt or are about to, after absorbing taxpayer dollars; Solyndra, Amonix, Solar Trust of America, Bright Source, LSP Energy, Energy Conversion Devices, SunPower, Beacon Power, Ecotality, A123 Solar, UniSolar, Azure Dynamics, Evergreen Solar, and Ener1, to name a few. None of these companies have made any money or paid any federal taxes on income.
--Apple, is larger than any of the Energy Companies, makes a great deal larger percentage of profit on assets, and employs many fewer Americans, yet no Democrats are going after Apple, go figure.
--I would like to hear more about your plans for solar heating, and the general solar situation in Arizona. I am all in favor of small Solar and Wind, I just very, very leery of large Goverment projects, because of the historical record. They have a history of being sold as one thing and turning out to be quite another, indeed.
"He didn't know where he was going. But he knew where he was wasn't it."
Lord Buckley 1906 - 1960
Best Regards
Clear Ether