You have to think long-term about the drive to sustainability as it relates to economics, mostly in light of the fact of peak oil. We should be taking advantage of cheap, free-flowing crude while we can to build up overhead so that when oil production inevitably hits the point of endless decline, we won't have to go through severe economic shock the likes of which the modern economic world has never known

While it creates inefficiencies in the current market, it prepares for a future that we will have to deal with one way or another

Except, that's already been done, and had been done long before any government intervention.  If anything, like most well meaning government laws, the effects probably end up being counterintutive.

As can be seen by the recent devestation in the solar industry... and in general heavy pullbacks in the alternative energy sector that's been happening for the last couple years.

At least in Pennsylvania, those pullbacks are due to government interference. The great Mother Nature rapist himself, Tom Corbett and his masters in Coal and Natural Gas shut down a number of alternative energy initiatives

These industries seem to hinge on political will more than economic

Thats ridiculous...Learn this:

Global Warming IS NOT a synonym of POLLUTION.

CO2 is not toxic, but we have other gases that do wonders to decrease the quality of life from a urban region.

This is not about World climate, it's about certains Microclimates.

What is the most worrying is that people seems to believe that 50% of the children having asthma and other respiratory disease is a "normal" thing.

Your kinda missing the point, such initatives grate on public well being which leads to opposition which leads to politicians pulling the plugs on such iniatives and with such technologies leaving a negative taste in most peoples mouths due to the lost jobs funding said initatives caused in the first place.

Outside which, largely the collapse is just due to it being a product that's pushed on people despite not being viable... it's all just government created bubbles via subsidies.

Subsidies are never good.

Subsidies are exactly for this sort of thing, to correct for stuff that is good, but that the market does not embrace in its current form. Subsidies are often applied too bluntly, to be sure, but green initiatives (as an initially noncompetitive emerging market) are exactly the sort of thing subsidies are there to fix

Except subsidies don't fix it.  Subsidies don't work.  All subsidies do is drive up the cost of energy, hurting economic growth, as subsidies have to come from somewhere, and they com from the taxpayers hurting everyones general wealth.

If an emerging market is non competitive, it shouldn't be emerging yet, and instead more of the seed money should be focused on R&D.  Rather then spending feed money on instalations and buisnesses that can't survive unless hooked up to a government IV, and whose installations will need to be radically retrofitted whenever (if ever) an actual market competitive technology is found.

While if it ever gets to the point of where government can't afford the subsidies anymore, the buisnesses crash, burn, people are out of money and all we gained out of it was higher prices for energy and slower economic growth.

Basic research grants would be FAR more effective and useful then subsidies.  Either that or specific focused government uses of alternative energies.  IE alternativly powered military vehicles for times of war and oil shortages with power stations owned by the government.   Or really just whenever.    The price oil costs the government when is said and done is like 16+ bucks a galon when you consider transportation and the like.

Subsidies do nothing but cultivate complacency.  Look at the Ethanol subsidies.

Take the money spent on worthless subsidies, and instead spend it on technology and eventually equipment to change army equipment to non-oil based resources... then you'd have a real market which hopefully would develop technology that would be useful for private companies.

Then you'd have a government program that help.  Subsidies, though....

Subsidies are never good.  Hell, you'd be better off with tariffs then subsdies.

I mean, I can't even think of a subsidy that actually fufilled it's stated goal, let alone was a positive for a modern country.

Exactly, Geothermal energy needs to be used not only because it is renewable.. it's super cheap and damn effective!

Iceland already has a plant for geothermal energy and it is a huge success. Why have you never heard of it? because of the energy multinationals making billions off of your back.

Well... that and it's extremly regional.  We have a lot of Geo-thermal energy in the US.

However to open a geothermal plant you basically need to find the right site, by a bunch of clean water that you can waste on the thermal energy near powerlines and places that need power.

You couldn't do Geothermal in the Eastern US states at all.  I mean for Iceland, yeah it's great... but it's an extremely situational energy source.

It's an amazing one though... one US Presidents house is actually fully powered by Geothermal energy.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

That President?  George W. Bush.

Funny, eh?

The technique is really underdeveloped. Alot of researchers think they can use less and dirtier water then they can now. This need's to be researched.