Non-shocker of the day: Green jobs boondoogle a bust
Back in April 2009, we took note of how the green jobs boondoggle turned out in Spain. In two words: Epic fail.
No matter. The Obama White House shoveled more and more enviro-slush fund money into the green jobs/union jobs black hole.
Now, the Washington Post reports that retrained workers who followed the green jobs’ Pied Piper can’t find work:
After losing his way in the old economy, Laurance Anton tried to assure his place in the new one by signing up for green jobs training earlier this year at his local community college.
Anton has been out of work since 2008, when his job as a surveyor vanished with Florida’s once-sizzling housing market. After a futile search, at age 56 he reluctantly returned to school to learn the kind of job skills the Obama administration is wagering will soon fuel an employment boom: solar installation, sustainable landscape design, recycling and green demolition.
Anton said the classes, funded with a $2.9 million federal grant to Ocala’s workforce development organization, have taught him a lot. He’s learned how to apply Ohm’s law, how to solder tiny components on circuit boards and how to disassemble rather than demolish a building.
The only problem is that his new skills have not resulted in a single job offer. Officials who run Ocala’s green jobs training program say the same is true for three-quarters of their first 100 graduates.
…The Obama administration channeled more than $90 billion from the $814 billion economic stimulus bill into clean energy technology, confident that the investment would grow into the economy’s next big thing.
The infusion of money is going to projects such as weatherizing public buildings and constructing advanced battery plants in the industrial Midwest, financing solar electric plants in the Mojave desert and training green energy workers.
But the huge federal investment has run headlong into the stubborn reality that the market for renewable energy products – and workers – remains in its infancy. The administration says that its stimulus investment has saved or created 225,000 jobs in the green energy industry, a pittance in an economy that has shed 7.5 million jobs since the recession took hold in December 2007.
Perhaps all the green jobs trainees should send their applications to the Soros-funded Center for American Progress…
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Previous:
4/13/09 “Spain’s green jobs boondoggle”
12/15/09, “Here comes Cash for Caulkers (again!); Update: Obama: “Insulation is sexy”
1/7/10 “Green Jobs” = SEIU/Union Jobs”
1/8/10, “Here comes another multi-billion-dollar Green Jobs boondoggle”
3/2/10 “A wind power cautionary tale”
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Yet another example of how Brilliant Barry is ahead of his time. Gee, I feel dumber and dumber every day.
I am convinced that the “green” in the “green movement” is the green of Islam and a worldwide Islamic caliphate.
In my opinion, it appears that each and every “green” initiative actually ends up hurting, not helping, our country.
They are trying to bring us to our knees, and many of our citizens are helping them!
How it should have read.
The only green job I’m doing is in the garden. Well not so much now that it’s a balmy 10 degrees here in Wyoming. Now we’re just hunkered down in the reloading room making use of some indoor time.
In the words the CCR song, “there’s a bad moon on the rise”.
Gee, ya think the public is waking to the thought that “green” jobs are a Progressive scam?
If there was a market for “renewable” anything, the free market would already be making money on it and the jobs would be there. When a gov’t decides on a direction for the market, you can bet it’s the wrong direction.
Time to put the car into reverse, Barry, and drive back towards sanity. Or how about getting out and letting the intelligent people drive?
From somewhere in AFPAK, I can just hear Osama now: “(Slaps forehead) Now why didn’t I think of that?!?!?!?”
.
…our money leaving our wallets.
If he got a Teacher’s certificate, he could find employment teaching Green jobs, which is where the R E A L money is.
Another laughable brought to us by our own gov. The political elites have cornered the stupidity market. The truth will expose them all for the frauds that they are.
Really? The tree trimmer is here pruning the Palo Verde (green) and insists on being paid cash (green). Instead of giving him cash for Christmas I am going to buy him some Algore Carbon Credits. Those retrained Green workers can find at least some solace in that their retrained “Asbestos Removal Technicians” didn’t find much work either. Loggers who lost work in NcNary, Arizona due to Green Weenies and a damn bird were told to train as typewriter repairmen.
Damn Liberals destroy hopes and dreams, shatter lives and boast about how caring they are. May the Flames of Hell teach them the error of their ways.
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Let your sidearm be like American Express:
Don’t Leave home without it.
Resistance is mandatory
And Gore admits the ethanol idea, costing us billions, was a mistake.
Obamanomics….it doesn’t make other countries “Green” with envy!
The willful intervention of government into the private sector, in an effort to force actions detrimental to business, never begins nor ends, well.
Ignorance, bred with incompetence, fosters disaster. Greed, bred with power, foments anger and distrust. Unions, coupled with progressive government, ends in violence.
It’s coming, sooner, rather than later.
Yech, this is ANOTHER reason why I’m voting against Sen. Bobby Casey (Donk-PA) in 2012! We could all see that these sorts of boondoggles are where that borrowed money is going. They’d have been better off sending us all a check.
Errah
Just ask the US Green Buildings Council or the American Institute of Architects to show you how any “Green” buildings have saved energy or cost less to build. It’s a lot of hooey and the stats just aren’t there. These mandated LEED certified buildings are not any cheaper to build, and are no more efficient to run. They have done their best to require that buildings meet LEED standards and USGBC is making so much money off this tomfoolery that they are growing by leaps and bounds. Why does USGBC support the use of bamboo as sustainable coming 9000 miles from China as green product yet sustainable tree farmed southern yellow pine from Georgia is not. This is all a boon doggle and a way to set up regulations that stiffle business under the guise of being green. Greenwashing is all around you. Windfarms by Siemens and GE with the equipment being made overseas. Batteries technology and solar panels are made in China. BP closed its solar facility in Frederick MD and shipped it overseas where the stuff is cheaper to build. We hardly make any of these green products and the economy is in such poor shape that people can’t take advantage of any of the tax breaks for energy efficiency upgrades even if they wanted to. The paybacks on efficiency are 5 years or greater even with the tax incentives. As I see it even the Liberals don’t have the disposable cash to spend right now. They’ll probably need another Cash for Clunkers program in order to junk their Priuses for new Chevy Volts. Its all a lot of BS.
Contact your state legislators.
They are key to avoiding mandatory renewable energy laws – an outrageous job destroyer in the long run (see Spain)
WOW!!! Historic!!! ALGORE admits a BOO-BOO with CORN FUEL… GREEN JOBS are a BUST… Geez, next you are going to tell me that the VOLT is really the 17,000.00 car that will COST 41,000.00… My world is in a SHAMBLES!!!
Right! And, make sure you bring sachels of money, otherwise you’ll just be spinning your wheels!
Poor poor Larry, just a little too late jumping in on the pyramid scheme.
Hey Larry, you got a better chance of going “Diamond” selling Amway, before you ever get a real “Green” job!
The entire “Green Deal” is a swindel. It’s never been anything other than that, and all the “Do Gooders” that feel so good about thenselves as they save the planet, still don’t get it.
I’m tired of well-meaning Liberals making my life a living hell.
This morning, in gridlock traffic on the freeway, I look over into the HOV lane and watch the trickle of cars fly by. Fully a third of the cars have only one occupant. If they got rid of the HOV lane, 25% of the vehicles in the other 3 lanes could move over into the former HOV lane.
Then, there is the “Zipper” lane, open only during rush hour (which is really 3 hours long). You are supposed to have 3 occupants to travel in that lane. Again, about a third of the Zipper lane cars have only one occupant.
Government, which knows best, is trying to force us, against our will, to save the planet in car pools.
My taxes pay equally for all lanes, even the ones I can’t drive in.
After scanning the article in the link it becomes clear who the “guilty” party is for a lack of ‘green’ jobs. These idiots want greater costs attached to using carbon so us sheep will start using their green turds. Since petroleum sources are still a lot cheaper than green sources, the solution is to add taxes to the petroleum sources. At least that’s the inference I make from the article.
BTW: The subject of the article is in my hometown, where unemployment still remains near 15%. Ocala and Marion County are in no position to start buying green crap, so there won’t likely be any green jobs there for a loooooong time.
So I think I get it: There are no “green jobs” because those ephemeral “shovel-ready” jobs would’ve involved guys breathing hard while digging — and making more of that poisonous carbon dioxide as a result.
Well, at least I think I get it..
In the construction industry we are facing LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) guidelines for getting a building certified as “green”. It is an incredible amount of work on the design side and money on the construction side to meet the standard. Ridiculous thing is large parts of it is pure rubbish and the good parts are either already being done or just good practice if somebody want to spend the extra money. The people running these programs act as consultants to owners, engineers and architects. They are all liberals, mostly young and inexperienced and very limited technical training or knowledge (although I have to admit they are mostly pretty easy to work with.) However they are full of enthusiasm for this worthless, bureaucratic process. Oh, they also charge a huge amount for walking everybody through the process, usually more than our engineering fee.
This is an amazing waste of time and is causes massive delays and cost overruns in the projects I have participated in. For now it is just something the owners may choose but what worries me is this will get incorporated into building codes nationwide, which is just what the greenies are pushing for. It is an incredible scam and the only people making money off it are the ones running the green certifying agencies.
I think of the ‘green’ in the movement as saving ‘green’. There’s a lot that can be done to capture waste heat, use passive solar techniques, etc., that would save homeowners a lot of money.
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Long ago I worked as a junior engineer for the Northern Nevada power company. Every decision made on whether to build new power lines, substations, generation sources, etc. had to pass 3 tests.
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(1) Was it needed to provide good service as the load base expanded?
(2) Would it be more reliable than existing systems and sources?
(3) Would it provide the cheapest power to the consumer?
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Of course–basic safety and environmental standards had to be met. We wanted to build a 600 megawatt nuclear power plant. But with the 120 megawatt peak load–and no way to sell the excess power to Northern California–the plant was never built since power costs would be higher.
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And state law required that the lowest cost power solution be implemented.
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Green power is just a ripoff that can not “compete” without big Government subsidies from the taxpayer. And it kills jobs and raises costs to the customers.
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John Bibb
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renewable energy regs by state – scroll to bottom
These are green job parasites that kill the host
“Hey buddy! Hey buddy! Green begins at home!”
TV slogan jingle for a local Chattanooga window manufacturer… It’s one of those horror ads that sticks in your head. I’ve been singing it so long my wife is ready to kill me. Even my dogs avoid me now.
Since the late 1800s to around 1990, this wasn’t fashionably called “Green”, it was called “common sense” to build houses and buildings facing south and use cork or fiberglas isolation and recycling tin cans and newspapers. It’s just amazing to see all these companies and ads tripping all over themselves proclaiming themselves “Green,” and schools brainwashing our kids that if you’re “green” that you are an extra special caring and compassionate person. (I like light blue, so what does that make me??)
James Greenidge
Queens NY
Let’s see how Barry’s entitlement dopers feel when the price of oil goes to $200 a barrel. If we think the economy is bad now….
He better hope the White House has a War of 1812 escape tunnel or at least a laundry basket on wheels. The tar and feathers will be brewin’.
(I like light blue, so what does that make me??)
Surprise, surprise but only that Albore admits it.
Warren Buffett is so very eager to give away all our money in taxes, maybe he can hire a few thousand gullible souls to insulate all of his properties. I wonder how “sustainable” those jobs will be?
Better yet, rescind Soros’ US citizenship, extradite him to France, and use all his assets to fund a sustainable fence on our southern border.
One of the biggest “green” scams is taking place in Huron County Michigan where GTE intends on building 700-800 wind turbines. These 300 ft tall behemoths cost $2.5 mil. each with a 75%government subsidy and local tax abatements. Junk science will cost electric users $ millions in rate increases. Job creation estimated to be 1 job per 30 units. its a travesty and no one is paying attention.
Not to mention the huge distortion in food and commodity prices it has caused. The Federal government is tasked with creating a robust environment in which citizens and business can prosper. That is the mandate of the Commerce Clause, not all the other excesses they permit themselves so they can spread the boodle. Our government “Progressives” seem determined to make themselves the enemy of the people instead.
We need to find a way to identify these government initiatives as criminal and Constitutionally blow them away before they even get a start.
Can we make alcohol out of the trained green jobs workers?
Sorry…
I guarantee that overhead and maintenance costs will turn them into expensive yard art in 10 years.
OT and good news.
70% Hispanic Texas district rejects Demonrat Solomon Ortiz for Republican (and Anglo) Blake Farenthold.
Give them enough time in Texas, and even our Hispanics become Republican.
Wonder what that does to your property values (forget nice clear vista) to see your meadows and horizons lined by these whooshing monsters?
James Greenidge
Queens NY
RedDog, we used to tar and feather snake oil salesmen and run them out of town on a rail. Now we give them a Nobel Peace Prize and make them scientist Czars.
I spoke to a client a few weeks ago. He is a general contractor in crazy green cali. He has built several green homes and buildings using “state of the art” green technology. Unfortunately, using “state of the art” green technology is using “untested” technology.
Like, let see. On about 8 homes his roofer used a “green” three tab shingle made of old rubber tires. Like totally cool dude. One problem though, the ph content of the old tires was extreme. So after a few months of weatherizing, the material brokedown into a fine dust that ate right through the gutters and downspouts….not to even mention that the run off ended up in the ocean. Now my client is being sued to replace the roofs with a more proven, less green product.
So much for green.
Way back around 1990 Rush Limbaugh predicted the rise of the watermelons. He didn’t know the exact form, that global warming would be the preferred agenda, but with the fall of the Soviet Union and the discrediting of communism, Marxists would have to disguise their agenda, and environmentalism, taken to extremes, throws sand in the gears of capitalism. And while its hard to defend Marx, Engels, Trotsky, Lenin and Mao, who doesn’t love little baby seals.
I distinctly remember Limbaugh making that prediction.
Errah
No Dexter, think of it as spending green. More cost to track and document with your architect and engineer, more cost for permits & fees with your local government, more regulations and unfunded mandates by the building and zoning codes as well as LEED Certification through USGBC and more cost for materials and construction trades to deal with green. There are numerous requirements regarding chain of custody on wood and trash that drive the cost of regular materials through the roof. The benefit, if any, will take years to see. As mentioned earlier adding insulation to your roof, walls and water heater, sealing cracks at doors and windows, having double or triple insulated windows and the like are common sense to most all developer, builders and home owners. The efficiency that would be gained is only marginal if any on new construction and would only really be gained by renovated or redeveloped existing building stock. The benefit to most homeowners is currently not there. This is more a social statement when you see solar or wind applied to a single family residence. You’re better off sealing ductwork and insulating and adding storm windows which isn’t as glamorous as a new shiny solar array that only works during the day on sunny days and if installed at the appropiate angle. Why should I be paying for one of my neighbors social statement. As your local official if they are going Green and if the local government will be requiring LEED Certification. The smartest Owners and Developers are looking at anything that makes good common sense operationally with reasonable paybacks. They always have whether it was an incentive from a power company or good building practice. Where its not required they may be doing a building that could get certified as “Green” but not wasting money on obtaining “Certification” by USGBC.
Anything “green” that conserves energy will be used without government subsidy if it is actually worth while.
If the government were serious about greenhouse gases and oil imports, Obama wouldn’t have announced Yucca Mountain if off the table. Even France has gone nuclear, for goodness sakes…
Teddy and James, I couldn’t agree with you more. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m all for smart and innovative practices that save energy/money, but not the unicorns and rainbows stuff the eco-nuts are trying to force down our throats. But, I can’t stand the thought of all the heat going down the drain from showers, the dishwasher, and washing machine. I’ve been researching ways to capture it to pre-heat water to the water heater. Things like that should be do-able.
*The Feds were pushing green jobs and energy back in the early 70′s, and 40 years later, it still has little viability in our economy; Like everything else, it needs to survive or die by what the market decides; Enough with the subsidies, which are just more redistribution of wealth.
*In regards to solar, I did the math through the TVA and related resources, and basically, in about 40 years, I begin to get a return on investment, and that includes tax incentives; That’s pure unadulterated insanity there!
Wow – I’m sorry this man is out of work, but is there one soldering job left in America? It used to be tiny Asian hands did this, but I think robots and ovens do it now. In China.
Sounds like your familiar with this whole LEED scam It is causing chaos where we have seen it (see my earlier post) and as you say has very limited benefits. The few good things are things that people are doing already or would do if they want to spend the money. Liberals don’t seem to understand that investors, owners (i.e. evil, greedy, capitalists) love saving money and if something is a good idea and makes money in a reasonable time period it will be done. Nobody, even evil corporations, like wasting money on high utility bills.
There is a very real danger that these crazy LEED standards will work their way into building codes. I think the first will be a requirement that all federal building projects meet this standard (I believe that already be a requirement in some case) That would be followed by ant state and local govt. projects. Finally it will just be foisted on the entire construction industry. This would be an unmitigated disaster.
Never fear – the multi-billion dollar rail you will never ride is coming, and it has the added benefit of blotting out the view of that pesky ocean.
So has Japan, and they got nuked! The Japanese figured out that with coal and oil, you are pretty much at the mercy of the coal and oil producers; of which, Japan is not.
They now get the majority of their power from nuclear because it is safe and efficient. Sorry, but The China Syndrome is not hard science.
Read this if you want the truth about nuclear power.
57 states… now where have we heard that before? Oh yeah, that’s right… from the guy who followed it by saying “with one left to go”…
What would someone say if they wanted to publicly say that they intend to make the United States the 58th member state of the OIC, but do it in a “coded” manner, such that Muslims “in the know” would get the message, but most Dhimmis would not?
I think it would go something like this…
Unicorns, Big Foot, Lockness, Shovel ready jobs and now, green jobs. Only in Obama Marxist land do people really think they exist.
Try as you might, you just can’t push a rope. If green technology made economic sense there would be plenty of jobs. Training qualified workers does not create jobs. Economic influences create jobs.
I continue to boycott every green company/product. “Green” to me means scam.
I used to drive a 550 Mw nuclear reactor for a living, when not drinking soju in the RoK, and really, some good standardized engineering, those things are practically idiot proof.
I’d recommend the A4W/A1G naval reactor system, almost 40 years of proven safe service.
Build dozens of them.
Jimmy Carter was an engineer on nuclear subs, so you must be right – they are idiot proof.
Errah
Dexter I agree with you and this is the most innovative and simple idea. I saw this item created by an engineer from Canada.
Errah http://www.renewability.com/video.html
A real-life Homer Simpson?
Cool!
Errah
I think its to late already. I believe that all GSA buildings and Federal Buildings are required and Uniform Building Code and other are going to require it.
On November 23rd, 2010 at 3:35 pm, tbear44 said:
Ditto.
Or worse.
To me “Green” means “support those who want to bring the USA to its knees”.
Is there anything on earth that can move liberals to the Land of Real, and out of their fairytale books???? What a waste of brain matter.
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HI TOOMUCHTIME–#53. Good link to the truth article on nuclear power. All our “green” energy money is being thrown down the toilet by Comrade Obama and his group of useful idiots.
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And the economic benefits–and security benefits to the U.S.A. would be tremendous if we did the same thing France did over 30 years ago.
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Build the nuclear power plants. Defund our Muslim enemies and Hugo Chavez. And stop hemorrhaging our money to pay for petroleum and natural gas. Buck a gallon gas would come back when Economics 101 kicks in. It would fix our balance of trade problems. A win–win for us all around. And real reduction in carbon emissions–if “greenhouse” gas problems really exist.
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Too bad our country is still stuck on stupid.
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John Bibb
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It’s rather distressing for me to know that hadn’t early greens pushed the U.N. to rashly draft the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty for Outer Space, right at this moment I could’ve lived to’ve seen human beings walking on Titan or even reaching Pluto through simple and efficient nuclear drive systems as in Project Orion. Gad, the Greens have crippled us so many ways!! I almost hope the Chinese just ignore the ban and go ahead and apply such drives to I can see us cross the solar system. which’ll also give them a sane productive way to use their bombs.
James Greenidge
Queens NY