Stimulated by Solyndra?

‘Green-jobs policies are damaging America’s economy,” according to Regulating to Disaster, a new book by Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Manhattan Institute. She talks about the green disaster and some clear solutions in an interview with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez.

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: What are green jobs exactly?
DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH: The various definitions are confusing and contradictory. “Green” has become a vogue label, meant to signify a commitment to the environment (or to combating global warming). The Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for the federal definition of green jobs, and its definitions are all over the map. The truth is that “green jobs” is an expansive term, applied expediently in many cases, and no one knows definitely — or persuasively — which jobs are green and which are not.
LOPEZ: What’s fiction about Obama’s green-jobs story?
FURCHTGOTT-ROTH: For several years the public has been told that “green energy” will create jobs in America, lots of jobs. And that the federal government must subsidize green energy to make them exist. Many of the 3.1 million so-called green jobs counted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are jobs that already existed, but have been relabeled as “green.” For instance, someone working in a Salvation Army store sorting used clothes has a green job. A trash collector who picks up recycled materials has a green job. These are not necessarily new jobs.
Authentically green jobs, those that conserve energy, reduce toxic residue, or diminish carbon emissions, often are costly. Mandating the use of renewables, such as wind and solar, means that production of wind turbines and solar panels is increasing overseas, in countries with lower labor costs such as China, and not here.

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/316710/stimulated-solyndra-interview