Excerpted from “The ‘Green Jobs’ Myth” (wsj.com)
“But not everyone is buying it. As Stefania Prestigiacomo, Italy’s environment minister, has noted, “Some people claim environmental measures are a way to relaunch industry, but we have to be realistic. Resources are limited, and they will be even more so because of the economic crisis.”
This is certainly a new tune for the Europeans, who have lectured Americans for more than a decade to sign Kyoto because the planet is in peril. Their happy talk of a painless 20% reduction in emissions by 2020 has been mugged by reality. Carbon emission regulations come at a high price in lost jobs and lost competitiveness.
No wonder, then, that the Europeans are delighted over the pledges by the incoming Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress to adopt similar legislation to tax U.S. industries. The EU members may differ on their own limits. But they all agree that the U.S. should “show leadership” by committing to meet the same target they’re setting for themselves — reducing emissions by 20% to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020. Never mind that most European countries aren’t close to meeting their Kyoto goals, and in all likelihood will fall short of any new targets. The point is to impose those same burdens on the Yanks.
China and India, two of the globe’s biggest carbon emitters, have even called Mr. Obama’s goals for combating climate change “inadequate” and have advised the U.S. to speed up its time table for carbon reductions. And why not? They would be first in line to gobble up the jobs and production lines that the U.S. would lose if energy costs rise sharply in America.” (more…)
Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm firmly believes that more cowbell is what’s missing from Detroit’s auto assembly lines.
The governor claims that “progressive policies that encourage renewable energy development” would boost Michigan’s green economy. And she’s partly right: Regulations that force green energy on consumers and producers would boost business for politically favored alternative energy companies, such as manufacturers of wind turbines and solar panels. Increased demand, in turn, would create jobs at these green companies.
But at the same time, businesses that supply or use large amounts of conventional energy — such as traditional manufacturers — would face decreased demand for their products and would therefore lose employees. Indeed, more jobs would be lost at these firms than would be “created” at the environmentally correct ones. Granholm’s “progressive” energy policy might create a net gain for Michigan’s green economic sector, but it would create a net loss for the economy. (more…)
This reminds me of a movie from back in the day.
Soylent Green is a 1973 dystopian science fiction movie depicting a future in which overpopulation leads to depleted resources on Earth. This leads to widespread unemployment and poverty. Real fruit, vegetables, and meat are rare, commodities are expensive, and much of the population survives on processed food rations, including “soylent green” wafers. (more…)
Yep, keep eating those green wafers.
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