On the campaign trail Barack Obama promised if he were elected president, he would create 5 million “green collar” jobs. Today President Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits for a clean energy economy will ostensibly create 17,000 jobs. “Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the future,” he said in a speech this afternoon.
Make no mistake; this government-run plan will kill more jobs than it aims to create.
There are a number of serious problems with the goal to create green jobs, and Europe’s unfavorable results with renewable energy should raise red flags in the United States. And cap and trade, which is sold by President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, among others as the ultimate jobs bill, is in reality the ultimate jobs destroyer.
Less Bang for your Buck: Sure, the government can create jobs. They can use our taxpayer dollars to hire workers to dig holes and fill them back up. But if there’s no net gain in productivity and wealth, the job is a waste. For instance, we could replace all of the world’s mechanized agriculture equipment with hoe wielding farmers, and that would create jobs. But it would also significantly reduce productivity and efficiency. The economic reasoning for switching from more efficient machinery to less efficient human capital is such a baseless plan any politician suggesting it would be laughed out of office.
Yet that is the exact premise of the green jobs boondoggle. The government wants to mandate and subsidize labor intensive, inefficient, and expensive power sources. But the problem is that if it takes more labor and capital to produce renewable energy, there is a net cost to the economy. Proponents of wind and solar argue this is a good thing. Apparently they forgot the there’s-no-free-lunch-lesson you learn in Economics 101. Government spending will create some jobs to build windmills and solar panels and work at biomass plants but this diverts labor, capital and materials from the private sector that could be used more efficiently to create even more jobs. In effect, government subsidized green jobs destroy jobs elsewhere.
Cap and trade, while not part of the green stimulus, is being marketed as such. Because of higher energy prices, some jobs will be destroyed completely while others will move overseas where carbon capping isn’t in their country’s agenda and therefore the cost of production is cheaper. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis found that, for the average year over the 2012-2035 timeline, job losses will be 1.1 million greater than without a cap and trade bill. By 2035, there is a projected 2.5 million fewer jobs.
Green Stimulus Already Failing: Thus far, the effort to create or save jobs with a green initiative hasn’t been very successful. In Baltimore, for instance, stimulus dollars have been spent to patch roads, install newer furnaces and painting rooftops white to conserve energy. According to the Washington Post’s Alec MacGillis, none of these projects, as well as others, have created a single job. Another example is in the state of Indiana, where companies have “weatherized 82 homes out of its three-year goal of 25,000, and reported zero new jobs from the spending.”
Learning from Europe’s Mistakes: A research institute located in Germany recently released a study on the economic impacts of that country’s green energy initiative. Commissioned by the Institute for Energy Research (IER), the report finds with per worker subsidies for solar industry jobs are as high as $240,000.
Spain is a country President Obama says the U.S. should replicate when it comes to energy policy, saying, “they’re making real investments in renewable energy.” But real investments aren’t necessarily good investments. Another IER-commissioned study coming out of King Juan Carlos University in Madrid by Gabriel Calzada found that, for every green job created, 2.2 jobs in other sectors have been destroyed. Furthermore, Spain’s government spent $758,471 to create each green job and used $36 billion in taxpayer money to invest in wind, solar, and mini-hydro from 2000-2008. The country’s unemployment rate is currently at 19.4%.
The economically rational way to create jobs and expand green energy is to allow them to compete freely in the market, end dependence on the government, and eliminate regulatory barriers to entry. Like all energy sources, green energy should be able to live or die on its own two feet.
In time and with the proper policies in place, renewable energy might be inexpensive and efficient. If the private sector can create wealth by hiring green laborers for renewable energy projects (absent federal handouts), it will do so. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Project No Project” lists all the renewable energy plans not moving forward and the groups that are opposing them. The NIMBY, regulatory litigation problems make it difficult, not just for renewable sources, but all sources of energy stifle real job creation and economic growth. To fix this Congress and the administration should:
1.) Peel back regulations. Reduce the unnecessary regulatory red tape that holds up renewable energy ventures and makes them prohibitively more expensive and deters investment. Establishing regulatory certainty would allow businesses to plan financing for the future rather than to be hit unexpectedly with unforeseen costs.
2.) End energy subsidies. Subsidies create complacency within the industry and direct money that could be used more efficiently elsewhere. The private sector investment in energy research is actually larger than many might think. True breakthroughs in energy technology take time but the private sector has been generating marginal improvements in efficiency for decades.
3.) Limit Litigation. Creating a manageable timeframe for groups or individuals contesting energy plans would avert potentially cost-effective ventures from being tied up for years in lawsuits.
We’ve heard the green jobs rhetoric before and we’ll likely hear it again, but that doesn’t make it a good idea. It’s a profoundly wasteful use of taxpayer’s money and will do much more to hurt the economic recovery than to help it.
you are right ! obama's plan may not produce the jobs that they predict. nothing will change until we start to experience soaring energy cost. the population is predicted to grow another another 20 million americans in the next ten years(50 million in 20 years). the way we have been raised about the american life style which is one wastefulness and over consumption. i see it hard to believe we can stay the same path we are currently on. nothing will change until we feel the effects on are pockets and lifestyles.
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When the president models his idea of America (and policies) after Europe's Government Control Model, which is opposite of America's successful Free Market system then your bound to have failure.
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How is it that collectively our current leadership has no idea of how business works? If you have an idea and it provides benefit to people they will buy it. If not it dies. If solar and wind power were so effective business people would have jumped on it. Right now with current technology neither is cost effective. Elected officials and anyone in a position to effect our country's economy should be mandated to take an Economic 101 class.
Does anyone in this administration do the math on any of this nonsense?
$2,300,000,000/ 17,000 jobs is $135,294.12 PER JOB!
Can BHO and his Democrats honestly answer some questions? First – why did the $787 billion (pork filled) stimulus bill fail to keep the unemployment rate no higher than 8%? Of course BHO’s likely answer would be that he didn’t realize how bad the problem he inherited was – or the ‘Blame Bush’ mentality. So the second question: Why did BHO run for president if he couldn’t handle this situation? Third, if Bush and the GOP were so bad, why was the economy much stronger, and unemployment rate much lower, 5 years ago before the Democrats took back Congress? Finally, to some 63,000,000 ignorant voters, what made you think BHO and the Democrats would cure an ill economy? Are you oblivious to the failures of FDR, LBJ, Jimmy Carter, et al? It’s now evident that come the 2010 and 2012 elections, we now really need change. And it would’ve been better to maintain status quo in 2006 and 2008.
Why shouldn’t the White House use $2.3 billion to promote job growth while greening the nation’s economy? These new clean-energy manufacturing tax credits can create immediate jobs and help promote clean, alternative energies for the long term.
If you’re interested in green jobs or taking your business green, check out http://www.greencollareconomy.com. It has hundreds of case studies on emerging green technology and the largest b2b green directory on the web.
This administration and congress have wasted our money and mortgaged our children's futures. Over 8,500 earmarks in the stimulus package. Just look at some of the waste http://www.stimuluscigars.com/whatsburning $22,000 toilets and guardrails around dry lakes.
Why on earth should we support more of this administration's wasteful expenditures? STOP BLOWING THROUGH OUR MONEY!
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There's nohing wrong with green jobs – the problem is with the current administration – they have proven to be liars, and many can not be trusted. People would know this, if they based their opinions on more than what is heard on the evening news. Please know your reps. – many reps have good ideas, and vote the corrupt reps., that support obvious corrupt, senseless bills, out of office.
From thehill-com article —-Pelosi and Obama call for job-creation bill in wake of unemployment report " Labor unions and liberal economists have been urging the administration and Democratic leaders to ignore calls to rein in spending, saying that the stimulus wasn't large enough. They've beeen calling for a new jobs package since last summer, when the unemployment rate began to approach 10 percent."—-
How many more insults to the Constitution and our intelligence will we accept – vote OUT THE CORRUPT in midterm elections
-Washingtonexaminer-com democrats on path to repeat housing disaster
-Rightsoup-com Apollo alliance: hijacking our country
- Online-wsj.com-article Obama and Acorn Is there a case for a special prosecutor?
- aanp-org health professions stimulus bill payments announced
-humanevents-com Congress’s secret plan to pass obamacare
-*Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth: Answering the Critics And how taxes affect economic growth – From the Heritage Foundation
-survey-pollilngpont-com — READ ABOUT POLITICAL ISSES AND TAKE SURVEYS
-* .healthtransformation.net Right to Know Petition
-If reps are outside of your voting district, an add in their newspaper may inform their constituents of what their rep. is doing
-Many Senators will accept e-mail outside of their constituents’ area.
-Newspaperlinks-com = enter any state to get list of cities, and newspaper publisher – may get newspaper opinion page
-usatoday; wall street journal/WSJ-com; NewYorkTimes/nytimes.com –Top 3 US Newspapers by Circulation
Why shouldn’t the White House use $2.3 billion to promote job growth while greening the nation’s economy? Because they can't do it efficiently, and renewable energy sources are not yet advanced enough to make economic sense. Leave the $2.3 billion in the private economy where jobs will be created. Alternate/renewable sources of energy will be developed in their own good time when our capitalistic system determines what and when it is profitable to do so. Forcing the issue with gov't mandates and subsidies will only distort the effort and waste billions of $. If you disagree, please cite for the centrally planned and controlled economy that we should emulate. N. Korea? Cuba? Soviet Union?
Spain is buying NUCLEAR power from France; do I need t say more? Germany is not going to close the Nuclear plants and now plans to build more? Why don't our leaders follow their beloved European and just build the nuclear power capability of say France?
"Facilis descensus Averno. Sed retro!" The road to hell is easy – reconsider.
Fabulous article. I would like to see the Heritage Foundation identify 2-5 energy projects for each state to make each state energy self sufficient. I live in Oregon where hydroelectricity is very cheap and under utilized. Other states have coal, natural gas, oil, and of course there is always nuclear power. If each state could see themselves having a cheap efficient source of energy that also produced local jobs I think we might get enough motivation to "Quiet" the environmentalists.
Imagine the overall national effect of little to no energy imports!!!
So what happens if the idiots don't get voted out in November? Is it Revolution by clinging to our guns and religion?
Most of the crooks in Washinton should be in jail!!!
Either Obama doesn't know what he's doing, or he does. Either way its bad. I believe he does know and his vision is Americans walking lock step right arm raised at a 45' angle praising der fueher
Liberals SUCK
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A lot of opinion and talk along with a few summits and still there is no real work out there. Whether the job is green, yellow, red, or polka dotted there needs to be work that brings a paycheck that will support families. College educated young adults are not finding sustainable work. Families are having to all live together again like they did in the 30's and 40's.
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