It's tempting to call the shameful taxpayer subsidy for electric cars - vehicles that are unaffordable for all but a small number of wealthy Americans - this nation's costly little secret.

For several years now, President Obama and his allies in the environmental movement have promised to usher in a green economy that will create millions of new green jobs that “can’t be outsourced.”

U.S. House of Representatives hearing on tax policy impacts on the commercial application of renewable energy technology

These realities suggest that the purported social benefits of policy support for renewables are illusory. Moreover, ongoing supply and price developments in the market  for natural gas are likely to weaken further the competitive position of renewable power generation.

Join us as AEI visiting scholar Benjamin Zycher and University of Wyoming professor Timothy Considine discuss the results of their recent research into renewable energy, with counterpoints from Kate Gordon of the Center for American Progress and Jimmy Glotfelty,  co-founder and executive vice president of external affairs at Clean Line Energy.

The private sector is entirely capable of developing EVs and other new automotive technologies without the need for subsidies.

Despite this support, renewable electricity has only a small share of the market, and ongoing developments in the market for competitive fuels—in particular, the prospect of declining prices for natural gas—make it likely that renewable electricity will continue to face severe constraints in terms of competitiveness for many years to come.

A number of rationales for renewable electricity support usually are offered in support of those public policies; whatever their surface plausibility, they are deeply problematic both conceptually and in terms of the available data.

Despite widespread political support and large direct and indirect subsidies from both the federal and stategovernments, renewable electricity—wind and solar power, in particular—produces only 3.6 percent of USpower generation. This small market share suggests inherent limitations that can be overcome only at veryhigh cost.

Banter is AEI’s weekly podcast series, where hosts Stu James and Andrew Rugg sit down and talk with leading thinkers and political commentators on a wide range of policy topics. True to its name, Banter keeps the conversation fun, entertaining, and interesting for anyone with an interest in politics and policy.