More About How the Rabid Right Agenda Destroyed America. And Friedman was getting Wrong even in 81

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Mr. Reagan's supporters argue that his reduction of Government funding for solar development will put an end to the creeping ''solar socialism'' of the Carter era. Through its largesse, they say, the previous Administration attracted a great number of people who were enamored with the solar idea, but produced equipment that only the Department of Energy could afford to buy.

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In addition to the development of what might be called direct solar energy, which depends on the sun's rays, solar is used in a wider sense to include biomass (wood and liquid fuels from vegetable matter and animal wastes), ocean thermals (the differences in temperature in ocean currents) and wind.

The small manufacturers of low-technology solar collectors or passive solar equipment, who did not depend on Government contracts, report that decontrol of oil prices has finally made their end of the solar business viable. Passive equipment depends primarily on collecting heat from the sun in containers filled with liquids, usually water, and redistributing the heat through pipes.

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