Government Gives Greens Gazillions

It's not just Solyndra, there are plenty of other solar companies that have gone belly-up after having their offices wallpapered with taxpayer dollars.  I'm not going to be so hyperbolic as to wonder if there's a single so-called green company out there that's the recipient of federal largesse that's actually doing something valuable because the probability that there's 1 is definitely non-zero.  What I would like to know, though, is, on balance, have we taxpayers gained or lost more money in "green give-aways" under this president?

Another green subsidy, another green scandal. The Wall Street Journal reports that a governent program meant to aid businesses that turn cooking oils into fuel may be guilty of serious fraud. The federal government now alleges that two of these businesses have been abusing the system, casting a pall over the entire program....

 The federal program that tried to subsidize this effort seems to have attracted some of the wrong types of people: the Tony Soprano kind of waste management company rather than an idealistic green recycling coop.

There are, of course, scandals in many areas of government. But greens seem to make unusually bad managers. Or maybe they just come up with policy ideas that are easily manipulated by less than honest people.  link

The list of these failed companies should be a constant reminder that government isn't as good as the market at picking winners and losers, and that government should stick to its enumerated powers and maybe even do them well before trying to branch out into other areas.  Then there's that whole Constitution thing....

Update, 8/10/12:  Carbon trading schemes are also doomed to failure--note they're created by bureaucrats, no matter what the level:

Behold a green failure so colossal even Via Meadia is surprised: a UN carbon-credit trading program intended to reduce global concentrations of greenhouse gases has instead led a handful of factories in the developing world to massively increase them.

The NYT explains....

Sometimes I'm forced to wonder if governments can do anything right.  I know they do, but their failures are so humongous....