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In reply to the discussion: Mitch McConnell threatens to block everything if Trump loses in 2020 [View all]Lonestarblue
(10,523 posts)The federal government spends around $26 billion per year on subsidies to prop up the fossil fuel industry. If those subsidies were taken away from fossil fuel companies, which are already highly profitable without them, and used to prop up alternative energy companies that agree to locate in less urban communities, jobs would be created in areas that are suffering now. For example, you can locate a solar panel or wind turbine manufacturer anywhere, but if you work in the oil or gas industry, you have to move to where those resources are located. Out-of-work miners could have good jobs without having to move. Those companies and jobs bring in more tax revenue for the community, which also helps to maintain healthcare options. Rural hospitals have been closing at an alarming rate because there is not enough money to keep them operating (at least at the profit levels their mostly corporate owners demand).
Democratic candidates really need to show how the Green New Deal could benefit rural communities with jobs and more prosperity and without increased taxes simply by stopping the needless subsidies of fossil fuel companies and using that money to subsidize alternative energy.
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