Green Jobs Myths at the White House Summit
Arvamus | 09 Dec 2009  | EWR OnlineEWR
Josh Barro, Real Clear Markets
With unemployment at its highest levels in more than 25 years, the Obama Administration is trying to show that it is focused on jobs. Last week's White House "Jobs Summit" brought together business, labor, academic and environmental leaders to talk about how the government can foster job creation. Unfortunately, the summit agenda repeated much of the same nonsense we've been seeing from the Administration for the last year.

Exhibit A: the Administration's ongoing push to create "Green Jobs." The Administration touts environmental initiatives not only as a way to improve quality of life and discourage climate change, but also as a way to employ more Americans. Accordingly, last week's summit included a breakout session called "The Innovation Agenda and Green Jobs of the Future."

The Green Jobs conceit goes like this: the government should offer tax credits and impose regulations that lead businesses to implement environmentally-friendly practices. This will create jobs doing what's needed to qualify for the credits or comply with the regulations. Most importantly, carbon regulation (most likely in the form of Cap and Trade) will lead to investments in technology that reduces carbon emissions.

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Arvamus