Shocker: Danish Wind Turbine Manufacturer Making Mass Layoffs As Wind Subsidies Dry Up
This is the problem with the government propping up industry with subsidies. The industry exists to supply demand created by subsidies. When the subsidies dry up, so does the demand.
A Danish wind turbine maker has announced more than 800 layoffs of its North American workforce so far this year due to the uncertainty surrounding the extension of wind tax credits.
“The U.S. wind industry has slowed, largely due to the uncertainty surrounding the Federal Production Tax Credit extension,” said Martha Wyrsch, head of Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc.
Orders were down 24 percent during the first half of this year compared to the same time period last year, and the company has previously said it could lay off another 800 employees in both Canada and the U.S. if the tax credit is allowed to expire.
Reuters reports that Vestas said it would “stop non-profitable projects as it battles worsening prospects” and begin to focus more on emerging markets to jumpstart growth and “offset cooling demand in mature Europe and United States markets.”
Industries that are viable in the market place don’t need subsidies (or, in the case of green energy, mandates for the use of their products) to survive. They survive because because people choose to buy their products. It is only industries that aren’t viable which need subsidies and/or mandates to survive, because without those policies there is no market for their products.
So the question is, why should the taxpayers subsidize something that isn’t viable in the marketplace?
Tags: green energy, subsidies, wind power
