Wind and solar lobbyists like to claim that their industry is "sustainable."

They couldn't sustain them long without taxpayer subsidies and "feed-in tariffs" that guarantee them high prices for any electricity they produce whether power companies want it or not.

Now Elon Musk's solar power company is in hot water with the feds.

The Wall Street Journal reports that "SolarCity, a Tesla subsidiary,agreed to pay about $30 million to settle alleged violations of the False Claims Act. The government alleged that SolarCity inflated its solar-installation costs in government reports to secure larger government payments than it was entitled to earn."

We posted areport from Chris White at CFACT.org which explains that, "The Justice Department’s probe targeted a program enacted during the Obama administration seeking to subsidize panel installations to encourage solar panel adoption. Solar companies received federal grants equal to 30 percent of the full cost of a solar system."

Wind and solar are in the subsidy business, not the electricity business. 

Warren Buffet famously conceded, "on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That's the only reason to build them. They don't make sense without the tax credit."

In 2015 Congress gave the solar industry a gift when it extended its 30% tax credit until 2019.  It tapers down to 10% by 2022. 

Watch for an intense lobbying campaign to convince Congress to ramp them back up when the tax credits begin to wane in two years.

The climate carpetbaggers making fortunes off these subsidies wear all political stripes and enjoy cozy relationships with their elected representatives.

Wind and solar should compete in a free and fair market.

Will Congress roll over and let them loot the treasury again?