After Billions in Energy Spending, Where Are the Jobs?

Cost of Government Center ^ | 2012-06-26 | [Staff]

[92nina]

While President Obama travels the nation touting the success of his green energy jobs programs, new evidence from the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee suggests that not only has the “stimulus” failed to fulfill its stated goal, but that job creation was never more than an afterthought. Despite chronically high unemployment, over $11 billion has been spent thus far on the Section 1603 renewable energy subsidy program. Testimony from key administration officials and agencies shows that in reality, not only have very few jobs actually been created, but job creation was never the program’s priority:

• Treasury: In administering the Section 1603 program, the Treasury stated that, “job creation is not one of the statutory requirements for eligibility and thus it is not a factor in the consideration process.”
• Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: “Section 1603 has created tens of thousands of jobs.” But an internal DOE study done by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that when you don’t include temporary construction and installation jobs, Section 1603’s $8 billion in grants to wind or solar projects only added 910 long-term jobs. That’s over 8.5 million dollars per job!
• Treasury: “Because the 1603 program’s primary focus is on domestic renewable energy production, Treasury also does not report on the number of jobs created by the program.”
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: 61 percent of the wind power funded by Section 1603’s grants would have been deployed even without the program’s existence.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Estimates of temporary construction jobs created in the green energy sector of the economy don’t even attempt to ascertain how many have been destroyed or misallocated from the impacts of the government’s intrusion into the marketplace.
• Department of Energy: Some of the largest beneficiaries of Section 1603 have been foreign utilities like Spain’s Iberdrola, which has collected over a billion dollars in U.S. grant aid.

The takeaway for the taxpayer is simple. Despite Obama’s endless barrage of green energy jobs claims at campaign stops across the nation, the actual programs he created do not even pay job creation a passing glance. As we pass the fortieth straight month of unemployment remaining above 8 percent, Americans are still left wondering: where are the jobs?

[92nina]

While President Obama travels the nation touting the success of his green energy jobs programs, new evidence suggests that job creation was never more than an afterthought.

Take this article and others I found to the fight to the Libs on their own turf; put the Left on the defensive at Digg and at Reddit and in Stumbleupon and Delicious

[oyez]

EPA is hiring.

[Walrus]

That’s right, it was never about jobs. It was about making billions for Jeff Immelt and getting a bunch of compliant, non-threatening news networks in return.

[The Sons of Liberty]

After Billions in Energy Spending, Where Are the Jobs?

No jobs for Americans; jobs for the Chinese; and the bulk of the cash for 0bama's cronies, who will then gratefully donate huge chunks back to the kenyan to support his regime.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I notice that in the past ten days the local governments around me have gone absolutely wild with street paving projects.

Since the local politicians around here generally don’t seem to care that I’m bottoming out in potholes I am left to speculate.

My educated guess is that Obama’s poll numbers have tanked below the danger level with even the Yellow Dog Straight Party Dem Voter contingent.

They are looking around and thinking “a billion dollars in stimulus...what did you do with the money? Where are the JOBS???”

Panicked, the Democrat Party has gone on an emergency street paving binge to make it look like they are doing something.

[cicero2k]

•Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: “Section 1603 has created tens of thousands of jobs.” But an internal DOE study done by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that when you don’t include temporary construction and installation jobs, Section 1603’s $8 billion in grants to wind or solar projects only added 910 long-term jobs. That’s over 8.5 million dollars per job!

To be fair, electric generation is very asset intensive. Once completed the operation and maintenance jobs are few by design.

Back when we were building nuclear power plants, a 5 billion dollar plant may employ 1,000 persons full time.

That's $5 million per long term job.

The difference is that the nuke produces beaucoup electricity for years on end, 90% capacity at reasonable cost.

The windmill might be on 25% of the time.

[nascarnation]

You have to give the Chicago mob credit.

When they got control, nothing was too egregious to pull off.

Of course having the media as a co-conspirator / cheerleader doesn’t hurt a bit.

[drbuzzard]

One could actually make a stronger case tallying up all the money sent down the rat hole over the 30(bit more) existence of the Department of Energy. This monstrosity was created by Carter in 1977 and has been ‘investing’ in unproductive BS for the whole time. While it was also granted the nuclear portfolio when it was founded, that is the only productive part of the agency. Other than that it’s been frittering away money on things like Windmill and Solar research for decades. The face that we are pelted with more crap from politicians telling us that a solar (or wind) breakthrough is right around the corner with more funding is equally laughable to stories about the electric car being the next big thing, for the last 90 years.