Besides this “stimulus” package mess, I am going to take a closer look at the green jobs issue and specifically its impact on Blacks. In the meantime, here is a quick round-up of posts I have done in the past (and articles I’ve mentioned) on this issue.
Soylent Green
Here Are Your Green Collar Jobs
I mentioned the following article recently. It talks about how California’s Enhanced Vapor Recovery Program is forcing gasoline stations to comply with green standards by purchasing thousands of dollars in equipment. The problem with this is multi-fold. First, most small gasoline stations rely on earnings from convenience store sales, not just selling gas. Because of this, as discussed in the article this will have an adverse effect on small station owners who now have to purchase expensive equipment by April of this year. Second, typically you find small, independently-owned gasoline stations in low-income communities. Placing this burden on them will force some to shut down. There goes some of your small business owners. Third, the fewer gasoline stations you have, the higher gas prices will go up in that community. The California Air Resources Board confirms this in the article.
CARB officials believe the requirement is a manageable and necessary cost to curb air pollution and smog and to protect public health.
“We do calculate the cost of compliance with the regulation as related to emissions,” Stanich said. “These costs could be recovered by raising gasoline prices by an average 0.68 cents per gallon.”
Ahh! No big deal, right?
Mandate could force gas stations out of business
You also may want to check out the following:
Impact of CO2 Restrictions on Employment and Income: Green Jobs or Gone Jobs?
California’s ‘Green Jobs’ Experiment Isn’t Going Well
Interesting study. I checked it out.
Green Jobs Are Not Always Good Jobs: New Report Finds Wide Variation in Quality of Jobs in Climate-Friendly Sectors
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