Green energy in the American Economy and the resistance to market forces from the Republicans
The Senate is currently wrestling with a lot. Healthcare is the largest animal in the room, but underneath it, jobs and our energy sector.
Unfortunately, without Van Jones in the Obama Administration, a loud voice for green collar work isn't being said. I must emphasise this, though.
This morning, NPR ran a story about what's going on with our cap-and-trade debate. Republicans like to demonise the whole concept as a tax on our energy economy. And in essence, it is. But it is a tax you can avoid by installing green technologies, switching to green energy, etc. etc. etc.
Here's the thing: the market doesn't move with a commodity that has no value. Cap-and-trade finally gives accountants a reason to count carbon dioxide and incorporate it into their bottom line. (I've said all along, all you have to do to change climate is sic accountants on it: they will make the most out of the resources we have. Whatever gets measured gets geeked on by accountants: accountants WILL save the world.) Carbon inventories, the very thing I work on, are a valuable commodity once cap-and-trade is instituted. The Democrats' plan to do cap-and-trade uses the market, something Republicans are very gung ho about, to reduce emissions. Republicans are afraid that
it will kill jobs. And it will kill certain jobs. Coal mining will be harmed, sure, and maybe some oil jobs. But wind farming will be a boom industry.
Pro-market idealists freely admit that in the market there are winners and losers. Republicans generally admit that government intervention to save (even domestic) jobs is bad policy. But right now, that's their argument. That unhealthy, black lung-producing jobs are worth saving, despite the global call for climate action and despite the fact that these workers could work in other industries.
The additional revenues raise by cap-and-trade will produce high-quality, high-paying jobs: jobs that can afford to pay more into a welfare system for people who have been unemployed due to the system. Cap-and-trade by its very definition grows the pie, which is what capitalists wave as the best part of capitalism, trade, and globalisation. Attaching value to a commodity that is currently unvalued creates a huge market in carbon trading. Precious Wall Street will get a revival; derivatives, insurance policies, etc. will all get a leg up. And all that money, supposedly under Reaganomics, 'trickles down'.
So, what's the hold up?
All of the sudden, Republicans are against trickle down economics and free market ideology? I don't understand.
The jobs created in solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and the electric grid infrastructure development are working class, high-paying jobs that miners, auto workers, and all sorts of currently out-of-work industrial labourers could have. They may have to move around a bit, but the last time I checked, that's not new for America and we don't have border patrols slowing down those migrations (at least interstate). These are safe, sustainable jobs that absolutely need to be in America due to the function of the jobs. They cannot be offshored.
And maybe that's it. The trickle-down effect was just a ruse. It was a lie. Because what happened in reality is that the rich got richer. Under a labour-based economy, the workers take some of the spoils as well. And that's what people are arguing for.
10$ a month will be the estimated cost increase due to carbon. And that's only temporary. The source I read predicted that energy prices will jump in the short term while the carbon-intensive industries are burdened by carbon legislation. But the mere threat of carbon legislation has changed the tune of many utilities and they do consider carbon legislation to be a done deal. They've been preparing for this. And as those energy companies succeed with green strategies, they will be more profitable because they will be rewarded by the trade portion of cap-and-trade. And since they will be rewarded, in the marketplace, they will succeed and breed more demand for domestic, green technologies.
Of course, globalism and coming late to the game does have its downside. Europe has been dealing with this for the last 8 or so years. They've developed some core competencies in this domain. Solar, wind, tidal... all of it they've been working on with private capital. Much of our development has been publicly funded... poorly. So, some of the manufacturing may not be done locally unless shipping costs are outrageous (which they may be). But the technology is out there. And we have a lot of catching up to do. So, waiting around for the laggards isn't going to get us ahead, people. We need to act and act quickly. And unfortunately, for the whole nation to get some bootstraps to pull themselves up by, it takes an act of Congress so that the 'burden' of creating thousands of high-paying jobs is distributed more-or-less evenly by all companies, not just the progressive utilities.
So, I say, Republicans from states in the South and East, please, get out of the way so that we can give your states some badly-needed jobs! I'll pay my 10$/mo extra so that you can have jobs. And once the market catches up and some of these green technologies are dispatched in 4-6 years, our rates will likely drop. I'll take that hit so that a West Virginian doesn't have to have black lung any longer. I'm just that kind of a guy.
It's a win-win. Stop resisting inevitable change!
Original article:The idea is that making fossil fuels more expensive will create a gigantic green job market in solar power, wind, biomass and other forms of green energy, energy that does not emit significant greenhouse gases.
In California the group "Mobilization For Climate Justice" demonstrates for tougher measures to stop climate change. The group says new jobs will be created in a new green energy industry.
Demonstrating for tougher measures to stop climate change
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In California the group "Mobilization For Climate Justice" demonstrates for tougher measures to stop climate change. The group says new jobs will be created in a new green energy industry.
When Republicans on the committee describe the bill, however, they use the "T" word. Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, for example, put it this way: "The businesses that will be hit with this high carbon tax will pass along these higher prices, which are disguised taxes to every family, every small business and every farm in the United States."
And so it went for two days: the Democrats, insisting that green energy means new jobs; the Republicans, invoking the specter of a new form of tax, a carbon tax, that would deep-six the fossil fuel industry and kill millions of American jobs.
Unfortunately, without Van Jones in the Obama Administration, a loud voice for green collar work isn't being said. I must emphasise this, though.
This morning, NPR ran a story about what's going on with our cap-and-trade debate. Republicans like to demonise the whole concept as a tax on our energy economy. And in essence, it is. But it is a tax you can avoid by installing green technologies, switching to green energy, etc. etc. etc.
Here's the thing: the market doesn't move with a commodity that has no value. Cap-and-trade finally gives accountants a reason to count carbon dioxide and incorporate it into their bottom line. (I've said all along, all you have to do to change climate is sic accountants on it: they will make the most out of the resources we have. Whatever gets measured gets geeked on by accountants: accountants WILL save the world.) Carbon inventories, the very thing I work on, are a valuable commodity once cap-and-trade is instituted. The Democrats' plan to do cap-and-trade uses the market, something Republicans are very gung ho about, to reduce emissions. Republicans are afraid that
it will kill jobs. And it will kill certain jobs. Coal mining will be harmed, sure, and maybe some oil jobs. But wind farming will be a boom industry.
Pro-market idealists freely admit that in the market there are winners and losers. Republicans generally admit that government intervention to save (even domestic) jobs is bad policy. But right now, that's their argument. That unhealthy, black lung-producing jobs are worth saving, despite the global call for climate action and despite the fact that these workers could work in other industries.
The additional revenues raise by cap-and-trade will produce high-quality, high-paying jobs: jobs that can afford to pay more into a welfare system for people who have been unemployed due to the system. Cap-and-trade by its very definition grows the pie, which is what capitalists wave as the best part of capitalism, trade, and globalisation. Attaching value to a commodity that is currently unvalued creates a huge market in carbon trading. Precious Wall Street will get a revival; derivatives, insurance policies, etc. will all get a leg up. And all that money, supposedly under Reaganomics, 'trickles down'.
So, what's the hold up?
All of the sudden, Republicans are against trickle down economics and free market ideology? I don't understand.
The jobs created in solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and the electric grid infrastructure development are working class, high-paying jobs that miners, auto workers, and all sorts of currently out-of-work industrial labourers could have. They may have to move around a bit, but the last time I checked, that's not new for America and we don't have border patrols slowing down those migrations (at least interstate). These are safe, sustainable jobs that absolutely need to be in America due to the function of the jobs. They cannot be offshored.
And maybe that's it. The trickle-down effect was just a ruse. It was a lie. Because what happened in reality is that the rich got richer. Under a labour-based economy, the workers take some of the spoils as well. And that's what people are arguing for.
10$ a month will be the estimated cost increase due to carbon. And that's only temporary. The source I read predicted that energy prices will jump in the short term while the carbon-intensive industries are burdened by carbon legislation. But the mere threat of carbon legislation has changed the tune of many utilities and they do consider carbon legislation to be a done deal. They've been preparing for this. And as those energy companies succeed with green strategies, they will be more profitable because they will be rewarded by the trade portion of cap-and-trade. And since they will be rewarded, in the marketplace, they will succeed and breed more demand for domestic, green technologies.
Of course, globalism and coming late to the game does have its downside. Europe has been dealing with this for the last 8 or so years. They've developed some core competencies in this domain. Solar, wind, tidal... all of it they've been working on with private capital. Much of our development has been publicly funded... poorly. So, some of the manufacturing may not be done locally unless shipping costs are outrageous (which they may be). But the technology is out there. And we have a lot of catching up to do. So, waiting around for the laggards isn't going to get us ahead, people. We need to act and act quickly. And unfortunately, for the whole nation to get some bootstraps to pull themselves up by, it takes an act of Congress so that the 'burden' of creating thousands of high-paying jobs is distributed more-or-less evenly by all companies, not just the progressive utilities.
So, I say, Republicans from states in the South and East, please, get out of the way so that we can give your states some badly-needed jobs! I'll pay my 10$/mo extra so that you can have jobs. And once the market catches up and some of these green technologies are dispatched in 4-6 years, our rates will likely drop. I'll take that hit so that a West Virginian doesn't have to have black lung any longer. I'm just that kind of a guy.
It's a win-win. Stop resisting inevitable change!
Original article:The idea is that making fossil fuels more expensive will create a gigantic green job market in solar power, wind, biomass and other forms of green energy, energy that does not emit significant greenhouse gases.
In California the group "Mobilization For Climate Justice" demonstrates for tougher measures to stop climate change. The group says new jobs will be created in a new green energy industry.
Demonstrating for tougher measures to stop climate change
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In California the group "Mobilization For Climate Justice" demonstrates for tougher measures to stop climate change. The group says new jobs will be created in a new green energy industry.
When Republicans on the committee describe the bill, however, they use the "T" word. Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, for example, put it this way: "The businesses that will be hit with this high carbon tax will pass along these higher prices, which are disguised taxes to every family, every small business and every farm in the United States."
And so it went for two days: the Democrats, insisting that green energy means new jobs; the Republicans, invoking the specter of a new form of tax, a carbon tax, that would deep-six the fossil fuel industry and kill millions of American jobs.