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By Keith Johnson
Attention budget hawks: The “green jobs” money nestled in the stimulus package is actually “the most fiscally-conservative part” of the government’s $787 billion set of jumper cables.
So says green-jobs evangelist Van Jones, author of a best-selling book on the green-collar economy and vocal proponent of meshing job-creation and environmental policy. He was speaking at a big Washington, D.C. conference on clean energy.
“Every dollar spent on green jobs is going to be out there working double-time, triple-time,” Mr. Jones said, repeating his well-worn riff about replacing handguns with caulking guns in the hands of America’s urban youth.
The whole debate over the clean-energy economy and job creation is just getting started—and is keeping environmental economists busy. Proponents see a virtue in the labor-intensive nature of many clean-energy projects, from retrofitting buildings to installing solar panels. Detractors see a fatal flaw precisely in the labor-intensive nature of green jobs, since that amounts to lower labor-force productivity.
So let’s see—does the green-jobs rhetoric hold water, and should job-creation even be the yardstick for America’s energy policy?
Comments (13)
A common misconception is that you have to be a “green engineer” to work for a renewable energy company. Well, that type of ideology is far from the truth. Renewable energy companies are hiring Accountants, Analysts, Project Managers, Developers, Maintenance professionals, Administrative Assistants, recruiters, installers, interior designers and I can go for ever. The point is this. You need to make yourself visible to those who are hiring. It’s equally important to see the job postings of those who are hiring in the “clean” sector. Take a look at 5milliongreenjobs.org or (5MGJ.ORG)
http://www.5milliongreenjobs.org/
Wow Rich
Let me take the time to thank all oil men who work 24/7 to make sure we have all the energy we need.
I think there are some things Rich does not understand. Some jobs are not green but if we are going to build windfarms we need to train technicians to repair them. We are already doing this. These are not new jobs.
Second I do not have a problem with government doing a tasks if they do it well. All the people I know who home school do so because their local school district fails get the job done leaving kies without the skills to run a caulking gun.
So if the local union hall establishes apprenticeships in installing cost effect conservation devices, I am all for that. However, what we will get is the clueless like Rich wasting money creating make work projects like digging ditches and filling them in.
Replay to “I am not sure why you want to blame the GOP for you being an energy pig. If you can not get insulation in the roofs of homes in 40 years, I got to think you are too incompetent to get the job done.
Rich you can get a caulking gun and all the material you need for $5. Newer caulking material lat a long time. Just how may $200k parasites do we need to run these programs?”
First to answer why GOP stands for the “Great Oil Party” in the last thirty years, read “The Prize” by Yergin pages 750 to 764 paperback version. In those years, GOP had either oil men and/or oil state Governors in the White House:
Reagan (oil state Calif Governor) and Bush senior (oil state Texas oil man); Bush senior; and Bush jr and Cheney (oil service company exec). The book described how in 1986 when oil price fell below ten dollars a barrel as a result of downsizing cars by law of the previous years, and by using computer controlled fuel injection efficient engines, oil use for cars were drastically reduced resulting in the collapse of OPEC unity, vice-President Bush went to Arabia to tell OPEC to shape up and to jack back up the price of oil, which resulted in a three fold increase of oil price by the US government with the approval of fellow oil state President Reagan to orchestrate OPEC to reunify in jacking up oil price. As if that wasn’t enough, Reagan trashed the car milage law, and trashed funding of alternative energy development and research. The Bushes continue to obstruct the development of alternative energy developments, and obstruct conservation efforts that threatened wasteful oil use, culminating in $140 a barrel for oil, and adding to the subsequent economic collapse. Now, they are still at it by trying to get another oil state Governor of Alaska into the Vice-Presidency. Read the book, and see that it is oil profits before country.
As to getting a five dollar caulking gun, why not at the same time get a five dollar pen knife, a five dollar syringe, and do your own deliveries, circumcisions, anti-biotic injections etc. For the same reason that most people are not skilled enough to do their own doctoring, car repair, television repair and so forth, most people are not trained to insulate their houses properly without risking damage or injury. Sure with training, most able bodied people can get simple sub-roof insulation done properly, but GOP’s are not for organized training either. Yea, while getting the five dollar calker, get a five dollar text book and eliminate the need to go to public schools. Who needs formally trained public teachers? Good luck trying to get into collage. Oh, yea, just get a five dollar college text book.
Okay Rich when are you going to start? All the thing you described are not new. I am not sure why you want to blame the GOP for you being an energy pig. If you can not get insulation in the roofs of homes in 40 years, I got to think you are too incompetent to get the job done.
Rich you can get a caulking gun and all the material you need for $5. Newer caulking material lat a long time. Just how may $200k parasites do we need to run these programs?
Of the two major approaches to using less oil, conservation and alternative energy sources, conservation works the fastest, as vividly demonstrated in the last half a year, when oil price plummeted from $140 to $40 dollars a barrel in almost a blink of the eye, as a result of conservation enforced upon the public by the collapsing economy. People just drove less, car pooled and started to buy smaller cars. However, this type of conservation in car use is not a permanent type of conservation. As soon oil price drops low, people will drive more and buy bigger gas guzzling cars, and oil price will zoom back up. Less oil use for cars is a none permanent type of conservation. Permanent types of conservation are like installing insulation or developing alternative energy sources. Once installed, insulation will not be ripped out after oil price drops after the conservation measure. It will permanently keep oil price low. That is why the Great Oil Party has been fighting tooth and nail to obstruct these types of permanent conservation measures.