Somewhere Over the Rainbow

So-called "green jobs" are at the center of Gov. Kitzhaber's strategy for jump-starting Oregon's economy. Is there really the pot of gold in green jobs at the end of the rainbow that he seems to think? Columnist Debra Saunders says think again.

Massachusetts celebrated the opening of Evergreen Solar's  manufacturing plant in 2008 and all the jobs it would bring to the Bay State. The state had pumped $43 million of economic development funds into this project to get it off the ground. Last month the company announced that it was moving the whole shebang to China. Pot of gold becomes pot of clay. Saunders reports on a similar story in California.

Her caution - and one with which I agree - is whether it is wise public policy to subsidize "green" companies with oodles of public dollars and then have them offshore their manufacturing operations. Green energy cannot be produced at a comparable cost in most cases to existing energy sources. Neither can green products be produced here at anywhere close to the production cost in China and other countries. Perhaps it's time to develop our own energy resources and quit buying oil from Arab sheiks and Venezuelan thugs, as well as ending throwing scarce public dollars over the rainbow.  


www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110209/OPINION/102090412/1049/Americans-must-realize-solar-energy-not-our-savior