The Cost of Green

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY, Wednesday, December 03, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Economy: Stimulating the economy with massive new investments in "green" infrastructure seems to be a popular idea, and President-elect Obama has made it a centerpiece of his program. Will it work? We doubt it. (link)

Comment
I accept the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and is primarily caused by human activity. I believe we must address the issue. However, the claim that solving the problem will be easy or cheap, I have always thought was pure unadulterated propaganda and wishful thinking. To go green will take money. It will take lots of money. It will require making everything that emits CO2 more expensive by either a carbon tax, or a hidden carbon tax in the form of a system of cap and trade; or massive subsidies to make alternatives cheaper; or regulations to prohibit carbon emissions and thus forcing consumers to use more expensive sources of energy and buy more expensive products. Take your pick but no matter how we approach it, it will be very costly.

This article says that the claim that “investments” in green technology will create five million jobs is simply false. It is more likely that 900,000 more jobs will be lost than created. I think we must get serious about addressing global warming, but don’t start by telling fairy tales.

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