Green Jobs

The idea of so called "green jobs" that is steamrolling across the country is a very weak minded plan to fix the American economy. First, by putting so much faith in something that really has not been around that long has dangerous repercussions. Remember the technology boom of the 90's? What happened since? While clearly technology is the way of the world now, many of the jobs that the "tech boom" created are now lost. Millions of investment was lost and there are some economists who argue that the tech boom is one of the reasons why our economy fell into the most recent recession.

But what does moving towards a "green" economy mean? Aside from the "putting all of your eggs into one basket" mentality, "green" jobs would equate to more regulation. Some states have already completely reset the environmental standards on appliances and Congress was already pushing a bill that would allow for each individual state to set its own emissions standards. Is this really something that we want to allow, when currently the "science" of global warming, (or what is now more fashionably termed "climate change") is unraveling?

The reason why many liberal politicians are pushing for "green jobs" is because being "green" is a fashionable fad. Many are out to reduce, reuse and recycle. It is one thing to want to this on your own, but it is another to mandate it. In Michigan there is a 10 cent deposit on all carbonated beverages. If you return the can or bottle, you get your 10 cents back. Interesting way of manipulating the market eh? But, the kicker is it is actually illegal to throw your can or bottle away in the trash. Oh, and another perk is the millions of dollars that people like Al Gore stand to make having put all of their eggs in green movement.

So we have the fad of all things "green" but isn't it dangerous to not diversify the economy? Michigan is a disaster now because they constantly relied not just on the auto industry by manufacturing in general. If Michigan's Governor Granholm wants to continue that trend of putting your eggs in one basket, then by all means, push her Green Jobs initiative.

What happens if the green movement falls apart? Being green can be expensive and with the economy the way it is, many can't afford to be fashionable for the sake of being fashionable. So should our government be putting millions, possibly billions of dollars into a movement that may just fizzle out? Of course, this brings up the debate of whether or not government should be investing in private industry anyway; that is a story for another day.