Why conservatives hate green jobs

[marmar]

from Grist Magazine's Gristmill blog:



Mything in action
Why conservatives hate green jobs

Posted by Joseph Romm (Guest Contributor) at 1:35 PM on 26 Mar 2009


This post will debunk "7 Myths About Green Jobs" and the longer version, Green Jobs Myths . The internal inconsistencies and general illogic of these articles are staggering: Progressives will be quoting from them in defense of our positions for years to come (see debunking of Myth 6).

These two articles survey and critique the green jobs literature, including a Center for American Progress (CAP) report on Green Recovery. The authors write, "the CAP report is the product of left-leaning think tanks (sic) in Washington, D.C." They note CAP is "headed by former Clinton Administration member John Podesta ... who served as co-chair of the Obama transition team."

So it is only fair to note that the myth articles were "produced with support from the Institute for Energy Research," which itself "has received $307,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998." The President of IER is Robert Bradley "who previously served as Director of Public Policy Analysis at Enron, where he was a speechwriter for CEO Kenneth Lay," who was "convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges" on May 25, 2006.

'Nuff said on that.

The green jobs imperative rests on three legs:

*Action on global warming is inevitable, so countries that act first will reap a competitive advantage.

* We import several hundred billion of dollars of oil each year, so replacing that oil with home-grown energy and home-made technology has multiple economic benefits, including job creation.

* In the near future, the only jobs left will be green. That is because our current system of production is unsustainable -- it will destroy a livable climate for the next 1,000 years.

President Obama understands all three of those points, as he has made clear in two recent speeches:

"We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can create those jobs right here in America and lay the foundation for our lasting prosperity."

"We can remain the world's leading importer of foreign oil or we can become the world's leading exporter of renewable energy. We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc or we can create jobs preventing its worst effects."

Conservatives hate the notion of green jobs because their entire anti-science, anti-climate, anti-environment message is built around the (false) notion of a trade-off between reducing pollution and jobs. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/3/26/10313/6631

[lostnotforgotten]

1. So, Let's See If The Obama Administration Can Execute On the Rhetoric

eom

[glitch]

2. Another excellent OP, k & r nt