Posted by BOE Member George Runner at 12:00 am on Aug 13, 2009 Comments Off on Green jobs: Not the Holy Grail of economic growth
During these long days of economic hardship, somewhere along the
way the "green jobs" industrywas anointed the Holy Grail of
job growth; the savior of economic revitalization.
But really, green jobs have not served in much more than a
feel-good, buzz-word capacity, according to many experts, including
Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman
University who said in a recently published op-ed in
Forbes that "All told, green jobs constitute barely
700,000 positions across the country – less than 0.5% of total
employment.
He goes on to say: "Indeed a recent study by Sam Sherraden at
the center-left New America Foundation finds that, for the most
part, green jobs constitute a negligible factor in employment – and
will continue to do so for the foreseeable future."
Don’t get me wrong; I do not oppose solutions that improve our
environment – but I believe we must allow the free market to
prevail in creating a truly robust green industry and we should
oppose government intervention vis-à-vis… Read More