It's not waste first of all, and maybe we can cut some of the actual waste to make room for things that will actually help humanity and America in the long run. If we let China and Europe outpace us with technology we will become more and more irrelevant.
We are helping humanity,
@Dexter . What we disagree on is the way to do that. I do not agree that it is wise to produce vast numbers of devices or facilities which will not do the job at the expense of either industry which is getting the job done, or the average schmuck who is trying to feed their family.
Let the market decide.
Let those companies which pursue such technology do so with the help of their investors, who will gain if it works.
Do not force those who are getting the job done to pay for those who are not to continue their efforts.
If anything is to be funded from the public trough, let it be the fundamental research, and not the production level distribution. We are not in crisis.
As for AGW, when I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Geology, the talk was of the coming Ice Age. Now, we're supposedly going to boil in relentlessly rising oceans. Truth is, the climate changes, CO2 is a trailing indicator, not a forcing indicator, (like the fizz coming out of a beverage when it warms, the oceans give up CO2 as well, as they warm. Simple solution chemistry.)
There are people who have already become ridiculously rich off of climate panic, and continue to do so. Yet the globe has been warmer and colder, long before humans had the technology to make substantial impact on it, so I'm not buying that we humans are the cause. We are just along for the ride.