ZeroAX wrote:This. Honestly I don't understand why a westerner wouldn't support green technology and energy, since they play a very important factor in getting back manufacturing jobs from 3rd world countries and sustaining our comfy way of life.
Because it has been turned into a political issue, so favoring it one way or the other has a stigma attached to it(this happens a lot over here).
Also, there are the concerns of business and production versus government mandating and regulation over environmental matters, issues with public funds going to green companies that have then collapsed(most famously Solyndra), questions over pro-environmental products and programs actually causing harm to the environment, and criticism of how government has handled enforcement of environmental regulations.
For instance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife issued a permit to the Shiloh IV Wind Project near Rio Vista, California, a wind farm that uses large fans to generate power. The permit is to allow it to keep operating despite the deaths of Golden and Bald Eagles it has caused, both of which are protected species. It's not a large amount of deaths(5 eagles over 5 years), and the company hasn't intentionally caused those deaths, but it's a situation that has never occurred before and gives the public pause.
And then there's the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is...well, it's a bit of a mess. Go read the list of controversies on the EPA's Wikipedia page sometime.