Morning Bell: Obama’s “Green Jobs” Pipe Dream
Posted By Mike Brownfield On 08/23/2011 @ 09:25 am in Energy and
Environment | 0 Comment(s)President Barack Obama has a problem on his hands when even his
stalwart allies at The New York Times have no choice but to admit
to a glaring reality: The President’s “green jobs” promise has
failed miserably.On Friday, the Times printed a harsh assessment of the state of
the “green” economy—including a conclusion that the President’s
promise to create five million green jobs over 10 years has
proven to be nothing more than “a pipe dream,” with California’s
Bay Area providing a particularly poignant example of how “green”
jobs have actually been lost, not gained:
In the Bay Area as in much of the country, the green economy is
not proving to be the job-creation engine that many politicians
envisioned . . .A study released in July by the non-partisan Brookings
Institution found clean-technology jobs accounted for just 2
percent of employment nationwide and only slightly more — 2.2
percent — in Silicon Valley. Rather than adding jobs, the study
found, the sector actually lost 492 positions from 2003 to 2010
in the South Bay, where the unemployment rate in June was 10.5
percent.
California isn’t the only place, though, where the green dream is
falling short of reality. Last year, Seattle won a $20 million
federal grant to invest in weatherization programs. The money was
to be spent on insulating crawl spaces, serving to create jobs
while helping the environment by reducing the energy needed to
heat homes. The program, which was announced at the White House
on the eve of Earth Day, has proven to be a total flop.
Seattlepi.com reports:
[M]ore than a year later, Seattle’s numbers are lackluster. As of
last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new
jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are
administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of
for low-income workers. Some people wonder if the original goals
are now achievable.
Those failures aren’t just hitting the West coast, either. In Oak
Park, Michigan, a state-government-funded hybrid bus
company sits dormant, out of business just two years after it
drew acclaim for being part of Michigan’s green future, despite
millions in state taxpayer funding and a contract to sell buses
to be purchased with federal taxpayer dollars. Michigan Capitol
Confidential reports that the company failed to meet two
performance “milestones” as part of its $2.6 million total loan
agreement with the state—and without government funding, the
company couldn’t survive.Despite these green failures—and reports that 80 percent of
the $2 billion set aside in the “stimulus” package for green jobs
is going overseas, mostly to China–President Obama is continuing
to make the pitch that a federally funded green future is central
to his plan for rescuing the economy, going so far as to pledge
an additional $2.4 billion for green jobs, especially to make
batteries for electric cars. The Heritage Foundation’s Ernest
Istook explains why the President’s plan will fail, just like it
has in the past:
Green jobs are about government subsidies, cronyism, and job
cannibalism. They aren’t self-sustaining because they rely on
giveaways of taxpayer money and they cannibalize existing jobs…The green agenda soaks taxpayers. But it also packs a double
wallop because taxpayers are first hit to pay for the subsidies,
then everyone is hit by higher energy prices caused by energy
taxes and regulations.
As President Obama stays the course, pursuing a well-worn path
toward government-subsidized green jobs failures, it’s important
to point out that there is another way toward real job growth
that doesn’t require taxpayer subsidies. As Heritage lays out in
its “Saving the American Dream” plan, by reversing the growth of
the federal government, eliminating unnecessary regulations, and
repealing Obamacare, Congress can set America on a better course.
It’s one that preserves the reality of the American dream, rather
than chasing the fiction of a green pipe dream.Quick Hits:
* Though President Obama and other world leaders yesterday
declared that Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi’s regime had come
to an end, the fighting in Tripoli continued on Monday as forces
loyol to Qadhafi struck back against rebel fighters.* The White House is announcing plans to scale back some
regulations on businesses today, but the changes don’t affect
major administration initiatives–including EPA carbon emissions
regulations–that businesses have criticized.
* The U.N. Human Rights Council has ordered an investigation into
violence in Syria during which government forces killed eight
people amid anti-government protests.
* Crashing poll numbers for President Obama indicate that his
“blame game” strategy is not working. Read more in Brian
Darling’s “Legislative Lowdown.”
* A draft of the Libyan constitution says that Sharia law is a
“principal source of legislation,” though there is no way to know
whether this draft will emerge as the final governing document
for a new Libyan regime.Article printed from The Foundry: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article:
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/08/23/morning-bell-obamas-green-jobs-pipe-dream/URLs in this post:
\r\n[1] <em>Times</em> printed a harsh assessment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/us/19bcgreen.html?_r=2\r\n[2]
Brookings report:
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0713_clean_economy.aspx\r\n[3]
<em>Seattlepi.com</em> reports:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Seattle-s-green-jobs-program-a-bust-2031902.php\r\n[4]
out of business:
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/15261\r\n[5] the
company failed to meet two performance “milestones”:
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/15490\r\n[6] 80
percent of the $2 billion set aside in the “stimulus” package for
green jobs is going overseas, mostly to China:
http://youtu.be/YabnLHPYDW4\r\n[7] pledge an additional $2.4
billion for green jobs:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/08/05/us-usa-economy-obama-idUSTRE5745P420090805\r\n[8]
government subsidies, cronyism, and job cannibalism. :
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/01/28/green-jobs-cronyism-and-cannibalism/\r\n[9]
The green agenda soaks taxpayers:
http://www.newsmax.com/ErnestIstook/earth-day/2009/04/22/id/329657\r\n[10]
Saving the American Dream” plan:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/05/saving-the-american-dream-the-heritage-plan-to-fix-the-debt-cut-spending-and-restore-prosperity\r\n[11]
the fighting in Tripoli continued:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/world-leaders-call-on-gaddafi-to-surrender-libyan-rebels-secure-most-of-tripoli/2011/08/22/gIQAN4wyVJ_story.html?hpid=z1\r\n[12]
announcing plans:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904279004576524870307612628.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection\r\n[13]
don’t affect major administration initiatives:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904279004576524870307612628.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection\r\n[14]
ordered an investigation into violence in Syria:
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/UN-Rights-Council-to-Probe-Syrian-Violence-128234078.html\r\n[15]
Read more in Brian Darling’s “Legislative Lowdown.”:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45649\r\n[16] Sharia
law is a “principal source of legislation,”:
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/08/22/libyan-draft-constitution-sharia-is-principal-source-of-legislation/If you want to receive other Heritage Foundation newsletters or
opt out of this newsletter please click below to update your
subscription preferences.http://links.heritage.org/ct/6566633:9645948170:m:3:210488226:283377C1A3BD91F6452A8A7DE4D511D5:r
