Why shouldn’t we be paying more for energy? Clearly what we pay isn’t equal to the true total costs of discovery/extraction/refining/transportation/defense/environmental cleanup/etc. Yes, I understand that higher energy costs are bad for the economy, but maybe our economy should learn to survive on the true costs of energy. Wouldn’t that make it stronger in the long run? Problem is, our current economy is an energy welfare queen.

Perhaps solar/wind/etc would be much more cost competitive if we were paying the true cost for things such as oil & coal. What is the current threshold at which solar becomes cost competitive — both with and without the subsidies that oil & coal receive?