Tuesday, January 13, 2009

All Those 'Green Collar" Jobs

It seems the last few elections there's always a Liberal or NDPer in Canada or Democrat in the US who tout up all those "green collar" jobs that are going to be created by alternative energy. What they didn't mention was that those jobs would come directly from subsidies because the business is not profitable. Already the industry is asking for hand outs on top of the subsidies they're already getting:

They argue that the economic downturn has limited the effectiveness of a tax credit that supports the wind and solar industries. They want to change the credit to a refund in the economic stimulus package. Credits help investors minimize their tax liability. Refunds act more like a direct payment.

The economic downturn, which has hit the financial sector particularly hard, has meant far fewer profits to offset with the help of a tax credit. That means interest in funding solar and wind projects is drying up.

There are merits to trying to wean off oil, but let's be honest about this and say it's a drain on the economy, not a boon to it.

2 comments:

  1. So what your saying is that when the government is involved in the market place, they do not make the most sound decisions. I can`t believe the government would waste tax payers money. I mean come on, they are elected to manage public spending. You must have made a mistake some where. Take a look at the ethanol problem, sure it takes more greenhouse gases to produce ethanol then the savings over diesel use. The government also banned cheap ethanol imports from Brazil, because we all know Brazil`s ethanol is bad. I think we all agree farmers need even more government subsidies. The program also made the public realize how evil the oil industry can be. This sounds like a solid government program to me. Sea Salt you sound like all those negative types, that are bad mouthing the Vancouver Olympics. In Canada, we all know that the government makes our life so much better.

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  2. LOL! Yes, indeed. We should just cut the dithering and nationalize the entire economy. No need for half measures!

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