Green jobs in Missouri? We’ll take ‘em.
Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond is saying “green” jobs are too expensive, according to this story from Bill Lambrecht in our Washington bureau. Mr. Lambrecht reports:
“Green jobs are not so much created as they are bought with massive taxpayers subsidies,” Bond said at a news conference in the Capitol.
He remarked at one point: “It sounds really neat to think we’re going to have wind-powered jobs, except I don’t see cars going down the road with propellers on them.”
Missouri is among states receiving a bounty of energy-related support from the stimulus package, including $128 million for weatherization programs that put people to work and $44 million in block grants for energy efficiency in construction, transportation and other improvements.
Back in January, economist and NYTimes columnist Paul Krugman warned of opponents of the Obama adminsitration using bad-faith arguments against his stimulus plan. He wrote:
The true cost per job of the Obama plan will probably be closer to $100,000 than $275,000 - and the net cost will be as little as $60,000 once you take into account the fact that a stronger economy means higher tax receipts.
The Natural Resources Defense Council reported in May 2008 that there are 270,000 jobs in Missouri that could see growth or wage increases by “putting global warming solutions to work.:” The report identified:
Solving global warming will require all kinds of workers with a wide range of skills. Tens of thousands of Missourians have good-paying job skills that are representative of a broad range of skills needed to build clean energy solutions:
- Carpenters will be needed to make buildings more energy efficient. There are over 25,000 carpenters in Missouri, paid an average of over $20 per hour.
- Electricians are essential to expanding mass transit solutions. There are nearly 12,000 electricians in Missouri, paid an average of nearly $24 per hour.
- Operations managers are needed to manufacture of energy-efficient automobiles. There are nearly 28,000 operations managers in Missouri, paid an average of nearly $41 per hour.
- Machinists craft essential components for wind power. There are nearly 11,000 machinists in Missouri, paid an average of nearly $15 per hour.
- Welders are vital to solar power manufacturing. There are over 10,000 welders in Missouri, paid an average of nearly $15 per hour.
- Industrial truck drivers transport supplies and fuels for the cellulosic biofuels sector. There are over 17,000 industrial truck drivers in Missouri, paid an average of nearly $13 per hour.
And it identified some of the work to be done as:
- Building retrofitting
- Mass transit
- Energy-efficient automobiles
- Wind power
- Solar power
- Cellulosic biofuels
Van Jones, the White House special adviser on green jobs, defined ‘green jobs’ for NPR’s “Tell Me More” program last week: “‘You can think about a green-collar job as a blue-collar job that’s been upgraded, or upskilled, to better respect the environment,’ says Jones, who is also the best-selling author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.”
Jones told “Tell Me More” that the country shouldn’t pass up this opportunity: “‘We have a tremendous once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect the people who most need work with the work that needs to be done,’ Jones says, referring to such ‘green’ jobs as putting up solar panels or retrofitting buildings to conserve energy”
Sen. Bond may not think so, but creating jobs by making our homes, buildings, cars and products as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible is something Missourians should welcome.
Jamie Riley is the P-D letters editor and gatekeeper of the letters blog. Before joining the editorial page in May 2005, she was a reporter and page designer. Jamie lives in University City with her husband, Charles, daughter, Elise, and the world's best Jack Russell terrier, Logan, better known as Stinky. 
What about the clerks at WalMart, if they sell something green, say a shirt, wouldn’t that be a green job? Really a stretch. A recent study from Spain said that every “green job” created would mean the end of 2.5 current jobs. Let’s take a look at some of those:
Coal miners
Coal fired electric plant workers
Barge workers (who move coal downriver)
Autoworkers at our current plants (there’s no assurance these new cars will be made here)
Then let’s talk about how the cap and tax fiasco is going to cost each home in the midwest over $4000 in additional energy costs each year. This will lead to a loss of retail sales.
Meanwhile, it was reported today that Al Gore, who was worth $2 million when he left office, is now worth $100 million. I think we see who is going to profit from this green movement.
jjk takes this to the point of being ridiculous. It will be a long transition and no one would be out of work for a long time to come. In the meantime there is retraining. I’m so sick of Republicans saying we can’t do this. they count on all of us being imbeciles.
What a crummy stock photo of late 1970s wind turbines..sheesh…can we make it look a little more modern at least?
Why is it that suddenly we’re all experts and in the business of 3-phase multi-megawatt power generation and distribution? I don’t mean us per se – talking about it and such, I mean politicians and the public push to mandate and finance these schemes. This is a matter for non-government entities to tackle. As it is, the essentials of government: war, courts and police (preservation of individual rights) are largely neglected – washed out by all of this welfare.
If the mission is to create lots of reliable power, we already have solutions in hand – and industry has done an excellent job, despite all of the attacks from regulators.
If the mission is jobs and nominal unreliable power, just make a big generator with bicycles attached to it.
If the mission is to loot one another, just put a gun to my head and shake me down – be done with it already!
Senator Bond and the other opponents to alternative energy don’t like the idea of a ‘green economy’ because they don’t want to believe that pollution is bad or that the environment has limits. Plus, Bond gets a helluva lot of money from the coal industry.
In terms of JJK, the study that he is citing from some academic in Spain has already been discredited. Why is organized labor supporting the green economy program unless the jobs will be high paying? Or are they just stupid?
— Jackson
“I’m so sick of Republicans saying we can’t do this. they count on all of us being imbeciles.’
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Republicans - the party of No
Republicans
Republic
Repu
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Kit Bond, what is he thinking? Didn’t he see the movie “inconvenient truth”? AL gore is a genious in global warming and he made a great movie on it. I feel so safe in Missouri because when the world melts in 2011 the sea water won’t make it here. I learned alot from my kids teacher at school. My kid teaches me alot about global warming from his teacher. Did you know that we are all going to melt in a couple years unless we start riding our bikes and support Pelosi and Obama? I thought it was a little colder this winter, but that is probably due to the global warming somehow. I have gone green, it is the only way. I ride my bike to work and even though I get there a little late some days (I work 20 miles away), it still gives me a good feeling I am doing something right, something Pelosi and Obama would appreciate, because they are going to take care of me, I know they are.
Libtard
Why is it that Hydro-electric generation is never discussed in any of these “green” energy schemes? We have two great rivers outside our doors that could be the most abundant source of “renewable” energy at the ready. If the Niagara River can be harnessed, certainly the Missouri and Mississippi can be.
To the point of the ridiculous? Look at the editorial. 34000 operations managers are going to make green cars? There weren’t 34000 total employees making cars in the halycon days of car making in the entire state. That type of example is ridiculous.
Perhaps, one day you can replace coal, but that day isn’t anytime soon. When you have a real product, then let’s talk about it. Let’s not trash out entire Midwestern economy with some liberal pipe dream.
Who discredited the Spanish study? Al Gore? There is no scientific agreement, only PC pressure on academics.
You say it is going to be a long transition? Are you willing to be unemployed during that transition?
I have not studied enough to tell yet if Bond is right or not… but look at ethanol. We spend more energy to make it then we get from it, it does not perform anywhere near as well as gasoline. Not to mention to most obvious issue. It made the price of corn sky rocket. All on the premis of Global Warming? Do we as the human race want to impact this Earth a little a possible? Sure. But in reality, all we know was the Earth was getting warmer and it’s be getting cooler since 2002. I would not bet my life on the possibility of a natural warmin cycle. When the glaciers went all the way down to Mexico and melted back to where they are now.. I don’t think there were too many SUV’s around then.