"We have a Saudi Arabia of renewable energy in our country: solar, wind, smart biofuels, geothermal," said Jones. "We know that renewable energy jobs across the country will be coming on line with more force. That includes solar energy in the Sunbelt, wind energy production in the Plains states and off our coast, smart biofuels in the Southeast and the Midwest, and geothermal everywhere."
So said Van Jones, the former Green Economy Messiah. Jones was all sizzle and steak when it came to the so-called "green economy." He is a "visionary" who hasn't created a single job.
Obama made the green economy a major highlight of his administration:
Barack Obama raised the development of a green economy to the top of America's agenda tonight, calling on Congress to pass a law cutting the carbon emissions that cause global warming.
It sounded so great, so uplifting…..so community organizerish.
"To truly transform our economy, protect our security and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," the president said. "So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America."
Thus is came to be that Obama allocated $100 billion of the stimulus package for the "green economy."
So how has that all worked out?
Not so well.
The last factory making incandescent light bulbs has closed.
WINCHESTER, VA. – The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.
The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.
Green? Maybe. A job creator? Sure- for China:
Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.
Eventually, the press will characterize this as "unexpected." That's pretty much the one word that captures all of the Obama Project in its dismal failure.
"Everybody's jumping on the green bandwagon," said Pat Doyle, 54, who has worked at the plant for 26 years. But "we've been sold out. First sold out by the government. Then sold out by GE. "
That would be GE, headed by Jeffrey Immelt, whose head was one stuck so far up Obama's ass he didn't know what season it was. Immlet saw "green in being green" and became a big supporter of Obama. That's not working out so well either.
Immelt felt he was going to be able to make a bundle by doing business in China but instead got a hard life lesson:
He warned that the world's largest manufacturing company was exploring better prospects elsewhere in resource-rich countries, which did not want to be "colonised" by Chinese investors. "I really worry about China," Mr Immelt told an audience of top Italian executives in Rome, accusing the Chinese government of becoming increasingly protectionist. "I am not sure that in the end they want any of us to win, or any of us to be successful."
And he finally got some Obama smelling salts:
Mr Immelt also had harsh words for Barack Obama, US president, lamenting what he called a "terrible" national mood and expressing concern that over-regulation in response to the global financial crisis would damp a "tepid" US economic recovery. Business did not like the US president, and the president did not like business, he said, making a point of praising Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, for her defence of German industry.
Immelt is a jerk. But then so is anyone who believes Barack Obama.
Yet it's hard to imagine anything more stupid than a politician. China absolutely spelled out its plans for dominating the world CFL market in 2006:
China Pushes for Even Greater Share of World CFL Market
So what did our idiots in Congress do? They passed the "Help China dominate the world CFL market and boost jobs for China" bill in 2007:
Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the legislation will boost the energy efficiency of "almost every significant product and tool and appliance that we use, from light bulbs to light trucks."
And hey, what if one of those cfl's breaks in your house? How are you supposed to handle it?
Before Cleanup: Air Out the Room
•Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
•Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
•Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.Cleanup Steps for Hard Surfaces
•Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
•Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
•Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
•Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.Cleanup Steps for Carpeting or Rug
•Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
•Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
•If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
•Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.Cleanup Steps for Clothing, Bedding and Other Soft Materials
•If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
•You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct con tact with the materials from the broken bulb.
•If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.Disposal of Cleanup Materials
•Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
•Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
•Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
•The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming.
•Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
WTF?? Can you see the TV commercial coming?
"If you bought a house that had a broken CFL bulb and you're exposed to mercury, you may be entitled to compensation. Call us at Dewey, Cheatham and Howe."
And where are the rest of all those green jobs we were promised?
A year ago, hope still held reality at bay:
But as the larger economy goes, so go the green jobs, and things are starting to look up for both. Unemployment numbers ceased their slide (at least briefly) in July, and venture capital investments in alternative energy rose 73% in the last three months compared to the first three months of the year. "Once you start seeing more investments made in our economy recovering, as we stabilize and we get people back to work, then I think there'll be more interest in expanding," Solis said of the push for green jobs. But as the economy finds its feet, is America's green renaissance upon us?
Eventually, the truth sees sunlight:
After months of hype about the potential for green energy to stimulate job growth and lead the economy out of a recession, the results turned out to be disappointing, if not dismal. About $92 billion – more than 11 percent – of Mr. Obama's original $814 billion of stimulus funds were targeted for renewable energy projects when the measure was pushed through Congress in early 2009.
But at least the money was spent well, right?
The Department of Energy estimated that 82,000 jobs have been created and has acknowledged that as much as 80 percent of some green programs, including $2.3 billion of manufacturing tax credits, went to foreign firms that employed workers primarily in countries including China, South Korea and Spain, rather than in the United States.
Well, at least we have wind turbine equipment….
In one of several embarrassing disclosures for the administration, a report last fall by American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop found that 11 U.S. wind farms used their grants to purchase 695 out of 982 wind turbines from overseas suppliers.
I don't know about you but it makes me feel better when Obama says he cares about jobs:
"I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders – and I know you don't either."
That'd be great if he was President of China.
Any more of this green economy crap and we won't have any jobs left in the US at all. Obama is a blithering idiot when it comes to business. His dreams and aspirations are going to be the end of this country.
Sent from my iPhone
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