Green Jobs?

Green Jobs, Fact or Fiction?

Back in my old haunts, the Arlington County Taxpayers Association (ACTA), which is basically Tim Wise, writes an outstanding no-comment blog, which I've gladly kept on my bookmark list after moving out West.   Last week Tim wrote a typically incisive piece on facetious green jobs claims put out by the Obama administration. It's worth checking out in its entirety, but to summarize, ACTA cites the lefty Media Matters claim that "Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released Tuesday finds that green jobs grew four times faster in 2011 than jobs in other sectors, continuing a trend of rapid growth in the U.S. But Fox News is still pushing the narrative that investing in clean energy is a 'boondoggle.'" The "Growls" blog as it is called, goes on to say that "the Brookings Institution previously found that the clean economy added half a million jobs ." Growls cites Investor Business Daily's look beneath BLS's claims of 3.4 million jobs which found,

"But buried in Table 3, 'Green Goods And Services,' we find under 'Utilities' and 'Electric power generation' a total of just 522 jobs for 'solar electric power generation' and 2,724 jobs for 'wind electric power generation' for a total of 3,246 jobs. Under the heading 'coal and petroleum products mfg.' we find 3,278 jobs. So even in the BLS list of 'green' jobs, coal and oil wins. 'So what about the 'millions' of other 'green' jobs claimed? The problem is in that definition. The bureau includes clothing stores, television and radio broadcasters, and office furniture manufacturers among the country's green industries."

The entire post is here.