Nobody, actually. Even a renewable energy company, or the outfit that makes the solar cells on your roof want to make as much money as possible.
The idea is to encourage those companies to sell as much as possible, thereby lowering the price per unit, which is the usual way of doing business, something big oil does NOT do.
The most unbelievable thing about the government's support of big oil is when prices rise on the strength that something MIGHT possibly happen in the ME, if we had a big alternative energy industry in THIS country we wouldn't worry about it much at all.
That's a national security issue, my friend, and it lends a lot of credence to the argument some people have that the government is, and has been filled with traitors who care more for their lobbyists than the security of the United States.
The fact that the Bureau of Land Management forced a moratorium on solar projects, using the nebulous reason of wanting to determine if solar projects on federal land (much of which is DESERT) caused any environmental damage!
Imagine that. The government is worried about sunshine collection in the DESERT!
(note: that order was rescinded earlier this month. My guess is somebody realized nobody would swallow that.)[/quote]We're at a precipice. Should we keep investing in an industry that keeps fucking us over or not? The people who want the drilling the most want to make you believe that they're helping you, but it's cynical; when's the last time the oil people really did anything to help you?[/quote]Again, realistically, big oil, or any other corporation for that matter, is not in business to "help" anyone.
But even if the industry WASN'T "fucking us over", their PRODUCT is obsolete, as far as motor fuel anyway. If the government would have listened to the predictions of oil experts (as opposed to the evil environmentalists the right insists controls the government) they could have taken some taxpayer money and the money from tax breaks and sweetheart lease deals they gave the oil companies and plowed it into alternate energy research.
There are plenty of companies involved in this industry already (look at the auto companies with their hybrids, electrics and fuel cell cars) and with some government support (and a population that uses half its collective brains) those companies would grow like weeds and the prices would come down correspondingly.

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Not a day goes by that I don't see something that reinforces my belief that people are idiots.

Jason,
Wind and Solar would not solve all the energy problems, however, it is a start. The main problem for both parties is coming up with a viable energy alternative. For instance, perhaps we could keep diesel fuel, even biomass diesel fuel, but for mass automobile transportation, hydrogen fuel or fuel cells would be the answer. The main problem is how to transform from a oil dominant energy condumption to hydrogen and fuel cell consumption. And T. Boone Pickens might have provided an asnwer to that by using his scheme.

Oil would still be needed, but at a much reduced consumption percentage. But the other thing the US needs is another Henry Ford that would innovate the industry. This is where tax credits and tax breaks would come in, especially the research credit.