Imagine Thomas Edison, saying
"Naaah I can't afford to invest in exotic wires anymore
-- besides whale oil lanterns have a warm glow about them, don't you think?
Imagine, where we would be now, if he never took the chance.
We face similar choices again ...
Q1 [2012]: 46,000 Green Jobs Announced in 42 States -- Can It Continue?
by Silvio Marcacci, CleanTechnica.com -- April 24, 2012
Nearly 140 clean energy projects were announced in the first quarter of 2012, and these projects could create up to 46,000 jobs across the United States. These findings come from a new report by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), and show green jobs contributing to the U.S. economy across a wide geographic and industrial base.
The analysis is based on 300 separate project and job announcements from companies, cities, and organizations. E2 is a national coalition of business leaders who promote environmental policy, and the group is affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
[...]
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?
The E2 report is certainly good news for U.S. workers and overall transition to a clean energy economy, but future gains are in jeopardy because of uncertain government policy. Many of the project and job announcements in E2’s report were made possible because of federal incentives, which have helped keep clean energy investment economical, even in the face of America’s shale gas glut.
[...]
The E2 report is yet another piece of evidence in the power of a clean energy economy, and underlines the importance of investment in sustainable jobs. Green jobs employed 3.1 million Americans in 2010, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This figure represented 2.4 percent of all jobs nationwide, and dwarfs the 783,000 jobs in oil, gas, and coal-mining industries.
GOP brand-bearer
Romney was saying recently:
Slash the subsidies for Wind Energy.
'Level the playing field' for Oil and Gas.
Well he's singing from the Plutocrat Playbook -- what should we expect?
He's getting in tune with the Republican Rollback Agenda (along with their pals at ALEC) which is targeting those Green Jobs of the future, with their future-phobia glee:
Norquist, ALEC put Clean Energy subsidies in their sights
by jamess -- May 04, 2012
It must be because the 19th century was so wonderful, I guess. Soooo many opportunities to strike it rich ... for all those "rugged GOP individualists" -- like Astor, and Carnegie, and Mellon, and Vanderbilt, and Rockefeller.
Who knew an Opportunity, when they seen one.
Boy, were those the days! Once in a lifetime an economic-era strike-it-rich days.
Imagine those geeks Page and Brin, saying
"Hey did you hear about the free kegger party on sorority row?
Besides National Science Foundation has just canceled our R&D grant,
Who would be interested in something called "Google" anyways
-- WHAT in the world were we thinking?
Well at least we still got Libraries ... sometimes ... in some towns ... for a little while longer, anyways.
What Clean Energy Jobs? These Clean Energy Jobs! (pdf)
from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) -- April 2012
[...]
Spotlight on Manufacturing
America’s economy is built on manufacturing, and clean energy companies are building on that tradition. Companies made at least 35 announcements involving clean energy manufacturing projects in the past quarter. These announcements mirror findings recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which determined that the manufacturing sector leads in the creation of “green goods and services” jobs that now employ a total of 3.1 million Americans.[4] Jobs in manufacturing add more value on an export basis to the U.S. economy than jobs in the economy as a whole. This further reinforces the finding from Brookings Institution that a job in the clean economy has a median export value twice that of a job in the economy as a whole.[5]
[...]
Companies and programs large and small, start-up and established, are creating jobs
The jobs announcements over the three months feature a wide range of companies: major multinational corporations like GE, Nissan, and General Motors, as well as small, entrepreneurial start-ups. Innovative companies are also retooling their operations to take advantage of the growth in clean energy. Michigan-based Energetx, formerly a luxury yacht manufacturer, used its expertise in lightweight materials to transition into wind turbine manufacturing.[6] The growth in clean energy is also creating promising new companies like energy storage investment company Townsend Energy Solutions, solar company National Solar Power, wind turbine blade manufacturer Blade Dynamics, and many others.
[...]
Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) is a national community of business leaders who promote sound environmental policy that builds economic prosperity. E2 is the independent business voice for the environment. We provide a non-partisan resource for understanding the business perspective on environmental issues. Working with our public and private partners, E2 shapes state and national policy that’s good for the economy and good the environment.
www.E2.org --
Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)
When are THEY -- the Entrepreneurs of the Future -- going to make the Sunday-morning snooze shows?
... probably not soon enough. Not enough drama. And certainly too much caffeinated Vision, for those ritual sunday trance-fests.
Do think these upstart "Entrepreneurs" really know the world will look like twenty years from now? Hah!
Besides China's already doing the Renewal Energy R&D -- we can just copy their homework, can't we?
Because afterall -- THAT's what Slackers do, isn't it? Simply ignore the potential.
Because it's NOT my problem. Just ask the GOP.