Green Jobs?

by Gregory E. Parker

 

The Audacity to Hope for "Green Jobs"

 
 

 

The Audacity to Hope for "Green Jobs"
by Gregory E. Parker - August 26, 2011


Green Jobs Kool-AidSince the inauguration of the current President we have seen 100s of billions of our tax dollars thrown into the pit of hope when it comes to creating jobs and dealing with our current energy problems.  Hope that LED lights, electric cars and solar panels will stimulate the economy and rescue us from our dependence on foreign sources of energy.  We have all seen the photo ops, the President standing in a factory filled with worker bees producing little lights that promises to power the future.  We have seen our Vice President and members of the President’s various cabinets milling around with worker bees making windows, specialized caulks and a sundry of other environmentally friendly products that in the end promise only one thing, to keep us cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer (think about it for a minute, it’ll come to you).  All of these things have one thing in common… they are part of a “HOPE” strategy that believes government can solve problems better than industry.  A curious notion since this country and the world’s greatest economy was built on the backs of hard working innovative Americans who if left in an unfettered environment create.

As you sit and read this the Obama administration is struggling to come up with a plan that would solve America’s energy crisis and put people back to work.  This country has 9.1% of its people unemployed, that is the official number, the real number is closer to 16% and that doesn’t include the number of people who are under-employed or have just given up all together.  So what is the answer?  The administration seems to believe that if we would just all get on board of the “HOPE” express and embrace “Green Energy” and “Green Jobs” we can float out of this nightmare.  Rather than continuing to reach into that pit of hope the President has pushed us all towards, let me spin you a tale of reality.

Right here in Texas, Dimmit County to be exact, we are experiencing a bit of a renaissance when it comes solving the two biggest problems we have in this country; jobs and developing an American solution to our energy needs. According to the Executive Director of the Dimmit Country Chamber of Commerce Paula Sydel, “We’re growing so fast that we haven’t had the time to go visit and meet all the new businesses opening in town.”  So why is the Chamber of Commerce so pleased?  Because in the real world of solving problems Dimmit County is home to the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play.  A boom has hit Dimmit Country and surrounding locations, rich in energy resources buried right here underneath our feet 50 oil and gas companies have opened offices and operational locations to service this shale play.  With those companies and the jobs they bring come increases in other businesses and demand for other jobs.  Restaurants, grocers, hotels (occupancy rates have skyrocketed) and housing needs have increased.  Over the last year more than 20 RV and Mobil home parks have opened to accommodate the influx.  These are real jobs and real development that tackle two of America’s greatest concerns, employing those who want to work and pursuing real solutions to our energy needs while creating a real strategy for America’s energy independence.

The evidence sits right here, while the population of Dimmit Country and the surrounding locals have grown the employment opportunities have also grown.  In a country where increasingly more and more people are looking for work and want to contribute we have an industry that is mercilessly attacked by an administration with a different agenda, a “Green Agenda.”  Texas does not standalone when it comes to having answers to our unemployment crisis and energy problems.  We aren’t alone when it comes to the frustrations of battling an administration bent on throwing up roadblocks rather than lending a hand.  The Gulf Coast states, the Eastern Seaboard, Alaska and states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, the Dakotas and many more hold the keys to America’s energy independence as well as the jobs they would create.  Coal, natural gas and oil and the promise of innovative and clean ways to extract those resources and utilize them can and should provide solutions to putting America back on the path of prosperity.  This is why I am so passionate about the responsible utilization of the energy resources we have sitting right here in the great State of Texas.

Across Texas counties like Dimmit, LaSalle, Zavala are all realizing a meaningful expansion of economic development and growth due to the current oil and gas boom.  This country is hurting and there is nobody in either party who will disagree with the fact that the number one issue is jobs.  Texas is proving that it has a solution and it comes in the form of jobs created in the energy sector.  These are jobs that deal with exploration, extraction and infrastructure.  These are new pipelines construction, trucking and rail jobs.  It creates opportunities that span the earning scale from workers to executives and everything in between both within the industry as well as within the community.

Hope isn’t a strategy.  Hope never shook your hand and gave you a job, hope never paid your bills or tucked your kids into bed at night.  Innovation, hard work and utilizing our resources in a responsible way is what will return us to the road of prosperity and that is how we will create a truly energy independent country.  We can no longer dabble with the mysticism that is the Obama vision of a “Green Economy.”  That vision has overfunded hope with your tax dollars while at the same time stifled growth and real jobs. 

Gregory E. Parker


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