Yglesias bemoans a political double standard:
When Newt Gingrich says we can “create jobs” by drilling for oil everywhere, he’s saying that he thinks the optimal long-term growth strategy for the United States is to try become more of a natural resource extraction economy. It is true that when Barack Obama touts “green jobs” as the future of the American economy, he’s saying something that doesn’t literally stand up to scrutiny. What he means is that he wants a higher productivity economy that also has less pollution. But the only analytic error he’s making here is the exact same analytic error that all politicians are making when they talk about “job creation.”
Karl Smith follows up. Massimo Calabresi believes that the green jobs movement is off the tracks:
I’m all for innovation and believe in government investments to fuel it. But just as Jimmy Carter’s solar subsidies in the ‘70s did lasting damage to renewable energy’s credibility, the green jobs movement is in danger of undermining itself for years to come by projecting utopian scenarios through the lens of bad numbers. In the wake of Solyndra, supporters of renewables need to find credible solid ground to stand on if they want to avoid a complete rout. Politically, it may already be too late.
Earlier thoughts on green jobs here and here.
The Dish 