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Many countries are looking to green jobs as a way out of the current recession, and now the United States has joined the bandwagon with a multitude of infrastructure projects planned as part of the upcoming financial stimulus package.
The US plan will cost over $800 billion, with $50-$100 billion set aside for building retrofits, renewable energy tax credit, subway and light rail projects, and environmental restoration programs.
Individual states are also getting a boost. Last week, the U.S. Environmental Agency announced that it awarded a $200,000 grant to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice to fund job training of 87 unemployed or underemployed people to clean up the state's brownfields.
Green jobs are growing outside the US as well— while each megawatt of installed wind energy capacity creates 4.85 jobs inside the US, the manufacturing of components is often outsourced to countries like China and India.
Of course, not all "green" jobs are necessarily good jobs. A recently released study entitled "High Road or Low Road? Job Quality in the New Green Economy" found that some employers offer wages beneath the poverty wage standard of $10.19 an hour in household income for a family of four.
"It's not just about jobs. Slaves had jobs," said Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America at last week's jobs conference in Washington. "It's about green jobs. It's about good jobs. It's about labor jobs."
Green Jobs on Hold
Where is the money to create Green Jobs? We have a proven HVAC technology designed to RETRO-FIT existing high energy consumption units on all Medium to Large box warehouses and save 30% to 60% of there energy cost with a return on their investment in less than 3 years. Ten years in testing, over 400 installs and the market desperately needing our product we have experience most business we all know and use everyday can’t get financed. These so call financial institutions receiving bail out monies have cut there line of credit. We too are ready to start manufacturing, creating over 100 New American jobs within a year, support 100’s of American existing HVAC install companies, and keep American part manufacture companies working. Not only creating American jobs but with a product that will direct American Businesses towards real Energy Efficiency, Conservation, GOING GREEN!
Give us a Grant and we will loan it to the business so they can save on their high energy cost!
Robert Vestal
Greenest.hvac@gmail.com
What we need to recover
Our financial system is broken and needs to be restructured.
So a "spending bill" isn't going to fix that problem.
Obama cannot fix the financial system because restructuring the financial system would "bite the hand that feeds him".
Look at some of Obama's top contributors to his Presidential campaign: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citibank, UBS, Morgan Stanley...
Many of the most important contributors to political campaigns around the country are the companies and individuals who benefit most by keeping the broken financial system in place.
"Main street" would greatly benefit by a financial restructuring, but the lenders (and those who set up the deals) don't want the financial system restructured.
So Obama's presidency is already, in my opinion, an example of failed leadership. Obama doesn't have the guts to take on powerful financial firms, so instead he signs a bill which is essentially a palliative measure.
Now that the die is cast, all we can do is watch the tragedy unfold. More stimulus, more borrowing, more printing of money.
Meanwhile the rotten core of the apple, our broken financial system, lies untouched - because special interests control Washington and control President Obama.