The Not-So-Fearsome Windmill Lobby

Even friendly causes like clean energy have corporate money behind them, but is it really true as Lamar Alexander implies that "Big Wind" is a major influence on public policy? Sarah Laskow :

The [American Wind Energy Association] did contribute more to political candidates than any other renewable group from 2009-2010, but the group's giving totaled just $338,348, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Compare that to the biggest player in the oil and gas industry, Koch Industries, which gave just under $1.9 million or more than five times what AWEA had to offer. The alternative energy industry, as a whole, spent $31 million on lobbying last year; the oil and gas industry spent $145 million.

It seems to me that the main problem here is that not only do the dirty energy and clean energy lobbies not offset, but the competition between them tends to suck oxygen away from the opportunity of simply using less energy. Obviously, nobody wants to live in a world without electricity but there are huge potential gains from conservation that tend to have almost no political voice at their back.