Green Jobs

Environmentally Smart Seattle an Excellent Example of the Failure of Green Politics/Stimulus

Published by Papa Giorgio

This from Gateway Pundit:

Part of that plan was to dump millions into poor inner city neighborhoods to weatherize homes and create jobs. Now we know that two years later the program was a complete bust. …But it was successful in redistributing cash from American producers to the inner city.

KOMO reported:

Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy – able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint – and the announcement came with great fanfare.

McGinn had joined Vice President Joe Biden in the White House to make it. It came on the eve of Earth Day. It had heady goals: creating 2,000 living-wage jobs in Seattle and retrofitting 2,000 homes in poorer neighborhoods.

But more 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.

“The jobs haven’t surfaced yet,” said Michael Woo, director of Got Green, a Seattle community organizing group focused on the environment and social justice.

“It’s been a very slow and tedious process. It’s almost painful, the number of meetings people have gone to. Those are the people who got jobs. There’s been no real investment for the broader public.”

Peanuts Create More jobs Im Michigan that Green Energy

Published by Papa Giorgio

Granholm portrait unveiled Friday: woodtv.com

From the Governor’s bio on her website:

Jennifer M. Granholm was elected governor of Michigan 2002. In 2006, she was re-elected with the largest number of votes ever cast for governor in Michigan. As Governor, Granholm led the state through a brutal economic downturn that resulted from a meltdown in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. She worked relentlessly to diversify the state’s economy, strengthen its auto industry, preserve the manufacturing sector, and add new, emerging sectors, such as clean energy, to Michigan’s economic portfolio.

Here is the comparison (thanks to FreeRepublic) of this “innovation”

A miniature wind turbine is featured in former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s official portrait, which was unveiled at the state Capitol on Friday. According to media accounts, Granholm said that the turbine is a symbol “of her administration’s efforts to rebuild the state’s shattered manufacturing base through alternative energy.”

But a can of Planters Peanuts may have been a better choice. Confectionery and nut stores brought more jobs to the state in the past few years than wind and solar combined. Wind energy accounted for 45 jobs in 2008 and 31 jobs in 2009. In 2008, there were 315 jobs generated by the wind and solar industry in the state. By comparison, there were 350 jobs generated in confectionery and nut stores in the state in 2008.

All were but a tiny fraction of the state’s overall economy: Michigan has more than 4 million jobs.

“Green energy hasn’t been the savior it has been hyped to be,” said James Hohman, Mackinac Center for Public Policy fiscal analyst.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics was not able to release 2009 data on wind and solar jobs.  Hohman said that’s generally because the data was focused on one facility or not enough facilities to meet privacy standards for reporting jobs.

Granholm said in September 2007 that wind energy would create jobs and help diversify the state’s job base.

Biggest Solar Plant In California Shuts Its Doors (Prop 23 News)

Published by Papa Giorgio

(Green is the new Red… see the hammers? Can you spot the sickles? [windmills])

Jennifer Kerns over at UNLIBERAL has written a short, concise example of the failure of the left in one of its most prized positions… Green Jobs.

First Evidence that Green Jobs Were a White Lie

….Just one day after environmental advocates achieved victory in protecting their $140-billion Energy Tax at the ballot box, one of California’s prominent solar companies announced plans to close its solar panel factory and lay off workers in California. According to Todd Woody at the New York Times, that’s not all. The Silicon Valley solar company also declared they will cancel plans for further expansion to a second, new facility in California.

Wait, weren’t we supposed to become the perfect market for Green jobs?

As it turns out, no. But it wasn’t for lack of bloated government funding. You may recall that Governor Schwarzenegger participated in Solyndra’s groundbreaking ceremony last year, promising that AB 32 would bring exactly these kind of Green jobs. President Obama visited the plant as recently as May of this year. In fact, Solyndra had already received a half-billion dollars in Federal guaranteed funding. But even high-profile political attention and hundreds of millions of dollars weren’t enough to keep their doors open.

The closure of California’s leading solar plant just proves the theory that government can’t “buy” Green jobs. You can’t force people into doing business in a state that isn’t friendly to business. And you can’t throw money at the problem. Amid big promises of Green jobs, California’s companies — and their employees — will unfortunately soon discover that the Green jobs promise was all a white lie.

…(UNLIBERAL)…