Those who advocate a wholesale rush into alternative energy often cite the benefit of “green jobs.” That is, by building all sorts of alternative energy projects, many people will be employed. It will be great for the economy, they say. President Barack Obama is one of these.
But is it wise policy to invest in these jobs? The Wall Street Journal article Don’t Count on ‘Countless’ Green Jobs: The evidence shows alternative energy is expensive provides some evidence to the contrary:
If the green-jobs claim sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.
There’s an unavoidable problem with renewable-energy technologies: From an economic standpoint, they’re big losers. Renewables simply cannot produce the large volumes of useful, reliable energy that our economy needs at attractive prices, which is exactly why government subsidizes them.
As if this isn’t enough, consider what happens when companies must pay more for energy: “The alternative technologies at the heart of Mr. Obama’s plan, relying on mandates and far greater handouts, will inevitably raise energy prices — and high power prices are job killers.”
Doing this on the basis of what looks increasingly like shaky scientific grounds is foolish.
Whether you agree we are heading in the right direction or not, one thing is clear, green jobs and the green job market appears to be the next “hot” sector like the Dot com era was…let’s just hope it doesn’t end like the dot com.