Our Thinking

Posted 04/14/10 by Dale Ingram

A Silver Shotgun Blast

Topic(s): Public Affairs/Public Policy Advocacy   

In the Mississippi Delta, people wonder when “green jobs” will lead them from a stagnant to vibrant economy, when wind turbines and solar panels will energize their farms and businesses, and when their crops will produce massive amounts of biofuels.

With support of Department of Labor grants, hundreds in the Delta are being trained for the sure-to-come renewable fuels and clean energy jobs.  Hope is buoyed in this agricultural-rich region by A Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta, coordinated by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation, that concluded, “Within two decades it is reasonable to anticipate a total impact within the 98-county region approaching 50,000 total (direct plus indirect) jobs through a maturing industrial bioprocessing products economy.”

But when will this wonderful green economy flourish?  During a recent forum on clean energy jobs, sponsored by Focus the Nation and the Alliance for Climate Education at Arkansas State University, we panelists could feel the impatience in the audience.

As Newsweek senior editor Rana Foroohar this week suggests, we may have to reshape – but not eliminate -- our expectations.  New green industries can indeed help build the global economic fabric, but not in the dramatic way and speed some had envisioned.  In her The Real Green Revolution, Foroohar cites a McKinsey study that concludes, “The bottom line is that these ‘clean’ industries are too small to create the millions of jobs that are needed right way.”  Many new jobs, she writes, will emerge when governments focus more on “greening every part of the existing economy.”

A popular metaphor offers the same idea:  There is no one silver bullet to create green jobs, grow the economy and reduce emission; we should accept it will demand a “silver shotgun” blast of efficiency measures, recycling, renewable fuels, biomass, wind turbines, solar panels and more to hit our target.

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