After 18 months, where are the green jobs?

June 18, 2010

It has been about 18 months since the green job initiative got underway here in the US. One year ago, I attended a state workforce conference where green jobs were all the buzz. People were trying to figure out how to count all the green jobs that were going to be created. One year later, at the same conference, it seems that the regular jobs that have been lost are much easier to count than the green jobs that have been created. One workforce professional summed it up for many by saying that it is time that the system stop chasing other peoples' priorities and focus on what is really important and achievable.

Millions of dollars have been spent on defining what a green job is. Tens or hundreds of millions have been spent on training thousands of workers for tasks that aren't in demand. One seminar that I attended explained that 115,000 green jobs would be created with a taxpayer investment of $10 billion. Excuse me, but that is nearly $100,000 spent for each job created. Maybe we should just take that money and give the equivalent of minimum wage to half a million people for a year.

There is consensus that many jobs can have green content with very slight additions of skills. Perhaps roofers need to learn better ways of making pentrations for solar cabling. Perhaps insulators need to learn revised techniques for working with new insulating materials. But the only legitimate way that jobs will be created due to green initiatives is to have demand created for energy production or energy saving activities. Once again, government officials have demonstrated a lack of understanding about how free markets work. (By the way, did anyone watch the embarassing questioning by Congress of Tony Hayward?) Just as you can't push a rope, you can't create green jobs by training a bunch of workers for tasks that aren't in demand. Or at least that is how I see it. What do you think?

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I agree Keith. Maybe we can give those half million people a power generating stationary bike and have them peddle for power. Or they could tend the lawn around the thousands of wind turbines being erected. Or maybe find a way to reduce electrical transmission losses or design vehicles that get 75 or 100 mpg of clean burning fuel.

Solar panels arent the answer if you don't live in Southern Cal.

Posted by: Bart on June 30, 2010

Obviously you are a pawn of Big Oil. Not only do you thumb any notion of green energy, you think Tony Hayward was treated badly by Congress? What about the thousands of people who lost their jobs and the the horrific ecological damage done because of BP's arrogant dis-regard for anyone but themselves?

Posted by: Joe T Chyle on July 1, 2010

"...arrogant disregard for anyone but themselves" applies much more succinctly to Congress and the current administration than it does to BP. We now have an even more horrific economic disaster on our hands with the current drilling moratorium still in place than the ecological disaster that was anticipated.

Posted by: Ken Schilling on September 30, 2010

I can personally attest that Keith is a go Green guy! He owns a sailing Vessel that is powered by WIND not diesel or gas! As a power boat owner of a 42 foot yacht that consumes 45 gallons per hour at cruise, he is more go green than me and many other boaters out on the water!!! So Ya'll can save it!

Posted by: Diane Burley on September 30, 2010

You are right on Keith. I am a recent beneficiary of a great RRM (Recycling and Resource Management) Certificate compliments of a federal grant but there are NO demands for anyone with these skills! It's mind boggling to me that anyone thinks you can do work by pushing a rope rather than pulling it! The money should have gone to businesses as rewards for their green efforts and for hiring people to help them save more money by going greener. That's how you pull the rope.

Posted by: Therese on June 29, 2011

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After 18 months, where are the green jobs?

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