How the tables have turned: just as we Americans narrowly averted the expiration of hugely important tax credits for renewable energy, the Germans are considering slashing 30 percent of the price supports that have catapulted their solar energy industry to among the top in the world.

Germany mandates that utilities pay nearly twice the market rate to solar energy producers feeding the grid; this is a de facto subsidy or price support that ensures the success of the German solar industry. But the Conservatives, the current ruling party, say that the industry will survive with less support and urge support for other renewable energy industries.

Understandably, the solar industry is not enthusiastic. "A 30 percent reduction would definitely cost 40,000 jobs and our leadership position in this technology," said Frank Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld AG, a Bonn solar energy firm.

And, frankly, we're not enthusiastic either. Given how the subsidies are set up, it's not quite as if those funds can be easily redirected to, say, hydrogen or geothermal; it's a feed-in tariff, not a subsidy from the general treasury. Unless the conservatives propose that matching feed-in tariffs be enacted to benefit other energy sources -- which they are not -- this is a net reduction of public support for renewables, not a redistribution.

And at a time when carbon emissions, global warming, and energy policy are incredibly important both in Europe and worldwide, withdrawing public support for vital but maturing energy alternatives for no apparent reason seems akin to cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.