For the last several months, President Obama has held up Spain, Germany and Japan as countries America needs to emulate in creating so- called green jobs -- those involved in renewable energy production -- to rev up the economy.
"Will America watch as the clean energy jobs and industries of the future flourish in countries like Spain, Japan or Germany?" he asked in January. But a new report out of Spain says if that country is any indication, Americans shouldn't be depending on green jobs to help the U.S. economy. Gabriel Calzada Alvarez, a professor, has released a study with startling claims about what's happened in Spain and what he predicts will play out in America. Calzada says for every green job that's created with government funding, 2.2 regular jobs are lost and that only one in 10 green jobs wind up being permanent. With billions slated to go toward similar programs in the U.S. the study is sparking new concerns. "Well it's an awful lot of money that is being funneled," said Patrick Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies at the CATO Institute. "If we don't pay for it, I guess we'll get some inflation out of it. Or we could tax people and that would probably cost jobs. Take your pick. You can't get something for nothing." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
