Maryland's Costly Green Tax Credits

We hear a lot of feigned outrage from the left concerning tax credits and deductions for upper-income earners.  Unfortunately, their antipathy for tax "loopholes" are nowhere to be seen when they are being disseminated to green special interests.

Last year, Maryland began awarding tax credits to purchasers of electric cars.  It turns out that the first few beneficiaries of the credit actually gain more in tax credits than they save in energy expenses.  Here is the report from the Washington Examiner: 

Maryland's tax incentives for electric vehicles cost the state almost twice as much as the cars saved in energy expenses last year, according to a report from the Maryland Energy Administration.
Sixty-four drivers who bought an electric vehicle in fiscal 2011 cashed in on the state's tax credit, which cost Maryland $126,387. Those drivers saved an estimated $71,300 total in petroleum costs, according to the energy agency.
The savings from the electric vehicles are ongoing, however, estimated to reduce gas purchases annually by more than $1,100 per car for at least eight years -- the expected life span of the car batteries. The tax credit, implemented on Oct. 1, 2010, provides $2,000 in savings from the state's excise tax for the purchase of a plug-in vehicle. 

And which county was the biggest beneficiary?  You guessed it; the people's republic of Montgomery County:

Of the 64 tax credits the state awarded in fiscal 2011, 39 credits worth $76,388 went to Montgomery County drivers, while the remaining 25 credits were divided among drivers in seven counties and Baltimore City.