The Naked Cost of Energy -- Stripping Away Financing and Subsidies

The pricing dominating the start of this article I found questionable, but the meat of the article is an important overview of the forces at play in determining the future energy mix.

The Naked Cost of Energy -- Stripping Away Financing and Subsidies - Forbes:

Graphic from Source Article at Forbes

Almost all of the nuclear plant fiascos of the 1970s and 1980s were actually financing and planning debacles, not a fault of the technology. And taxpayers were made to foot the bill on many of those poorly-financed and poorly-planned projects, thus souring much of the public on big projects like these.

So can we get our financing act together in time to avoid becoming a natural gas nation?

At present, financing is decided primarily on short-term goals and profits, and not on long-term needs for energy and economic security. This is true for the United States, and progressively less so for other countries whose energy production is either nationalized, part of a close government-private relationship, or merely heavily subsidized. Free market forces may be excellent for short-term profits and innovation but cannot address long-term non-market requirements for stability, security and environmental sustainability. To confront this void, the U.S. should develop financial mechanisms that provide long-term strategies while allowing market forces to function as desired

Read the entire article at Forbes: