Why should the government support alternative energy research? That's
rightly in the perview of the public, not government.

Whose interests should the government represent, if not "the public"?

We need either:

1. A minimalist government that performs *only* those specific functions
outlined in the Constitution. Many people, (self included) would be just fine
with this, but our political system discourages it. The more aspects of life
the government can become invovled with, the more powerful and self
perpetuating a position in that government becomes.

OR....

2. We need a government that is not so blatantly for sale every few years. We
have a system where everybody just expects that the government is corrupt, and
a couple of parties squabbling over who gets the largest portion of the fruits
of that corruption. The upper classes and capital
like some of the ways that one party pulls milk from the corrupt government
udder, while the middle classes and labor more predictably prefer the methods
of the other party. If we're going to have government screwing with every
aspect of our lives, it should be doing so impartially- but it makes no
pretense of being politically impartial and most likely never will.