Let the Oil companies keep their big government subsidies! But tie the receipt of the subsidies to alternative energy sources ONLY! If the money is not used to discover and/or fund R&D of known or new alternative energy resources then they don't get the money. Here in Tennessee we have hills, lots of them, with plenty of wind and a readily available cooperative grid to feed into (which is mandated by law).
Old Luke up the hill could use some lease money for a power turbine, if a company was willing to put one on his ridgetop. Most wind turbines will produce enough energy to power from 200 to 600 homes depending on the turbine. They have a life span of over 20 years and provide opprtunies for training, education, reskilling, and employment. They are pollution free and only cost approximately 2 million dollars to install.
Oil exploration and drilling operations cost many times that amount and drilling is a dirty environmentally unsafe venture. Here are just two out of hundreds of links to give you more information on wind power if you haven't already researched this topic. Don't even let me get started on the dangers of FRACKING!.
http://www.nationalwind.com/files/NationalWindTurbineFacts.pdf
http://www.environment911.org/127.14_Wind_Turbine_Facts
