Supporters of the just-passed stimulus bill have called it a lot of things, but one thing they can’t yet call it is a success. Only time will tell if the measures actually jump- start the economy as promised or instead prove to be a costly drag on it. History and economic common sense strongly suggest the latter, as the Heritage Foundation has repeatedly warned. Among the promises made is that the energy and environmental measures in the stimulus- 43 billion in direct outlays and 20 billion in tax measures – …
A key argument in favor of the stimulus package is that it contains several measures that are not only good for the environment but will create new jobs and boost the economy. From the people who make wind turbines and solar panels to those who install insulation in buildings or design electric cars, the predicted number of so-called green collar jobs to be created stretches into the hundreds of thousands. But reality says otherwise. In fact, everywhere that these green measures have been tried, unemployment has increased, not decreased. The …
The Los Angeles Times has a brain dead article out today explaining Why Obama’s green jobs plan might work. It contains all the usual leftist green collar job lies and this little gem from green collar jobs activist Van Jones: “You can employ a lot of people very quickly with off-the-shelf technology like caulk guns,” said Jones, founder of Green for All, an economic development group.” This isn’t George Jetson stuff.” Color us skeptical on claims that our economy can be saved by paying millions of Americans to go around …
During the Senate debate over the Lieberman-Warner cap and trade bill, the Center for American Progress published a report purporting to show the ‘profits’ the federal government would create by instituting a cap and trade system for carbon. These ‘profits’ would come from the government sale of emissions permits to U.S. businesses. CAP explained: “Initial estimates by the Congressional Budget Office project that an economy-wide cap-and-trade program would generate at least $50 billion per year, but could reach up to $300 billion.” But if carbon capping is such a surefire …
Last week Heritage Senior Policy Analyst David Kreutzer wrote a WebMemo detailing the flaws of three recent enviro/leftist reports purporting to show that massive government interference in the energy sector would lead to millions of new jobs. The co-author of one of those studies, the Center for American Progress’ Robert Pollin has now issued a response: Kreutzer claims that “Green Recovery” is able to show that green investments produce positive job effects only by making an elementary error in logic. He claims we count the jobs that are created by …
The environmental left spews so many lies it is difficult picking out which is the most pernicious. But considering how the economy is everyone’s number one concern right now, the left’s promise to save the economy with “green collar jobs” is definitely the most salient one out there right now. The lie goes something like this: “The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy …
Commenting on the top priorities of the Obama administration, former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta told The Los Angeles Times: “First you’ve got to deal with the economy. If you don’t get that back on track, it undermines every other priority you want to achieve.” And just how does Obama plan to fix the economy? In his closing argument to voters last week Obama promised, “And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create 5 million new energy jobs over the next decade …
Perhaps the oddest reaction to the financial meltdown and looming recession comes from environmental activists and bureaucrats who see it as a rationale to transform the economy along green lines. They argue that the old brown economy has shown itself to have reached the point where it no longer generates wealth, and that it is time for a paradigm shift towards an environmentally sustainable economy. For a description of this agenda, check out the UN’s Global Green New Deal. To listen to them, the economic problems have little to do …
DENVER — We always knew the left loved big government central planning of the economy, but we never knew how much they loved it. Also on Bob Kuttner’s “Take Back America: The Economy” panel here in The Big Tent were United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard and Green for All founder Majora Carter. In addition to Kuttner’s “Apollo scale” investment in alternative energy, Gerard called for a “Marshall plan” for green collar jobs and Carter called for a “Green New Deal.” The idea that markets can privately order themselves is completely …
Editorializing in favor of the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill set to be debated in the Senate next week, the New York Times urges liberals to “make sure that the economics of this debate are framed in a positive way.” The newspaper need not worry: liberal activist groups and politicians have been trying to spin the largest tax increase in the history of mankind as boon for the economy for some time now. Sen. Hillary Clinton says her cap-and-trade plan would create 5 million new jobs. Sen. Barack Obama promises to use …
