Fayetteville Speaks: Get to work on the energy and jobs bills
The economy is doing better. Folks have been buying existing houses and spending a little more for Christmas. We’re not losing jobs as fast as we were. Oops – we’re not losing jobs as fast? The economy may be doing better but it’s not good. The economy won’t be good until we’re creating more jobs than we’re losing. Period. So, how do we create those jobs that will give us a strong economy? Infrastructure, transportation, weatherization, and conservation (of energy and environment) – that’s how.
Our bridges are falling down and so are our schools. Our drinking water system leaks like a sieve and we’re losing millions of gallons a day of potable water. Our utility grid loses half the electricity from generation site to use site. Fixing our infrastructure creates millions of jobs.
Our transportation network is dreadfully inefficient. Build light rail, double mpg for liquid-fuel vehicles, and phase in electric, hybrid, and hydrogen vehicles. From research to development to building to selling to maintaining there are millions of jobs upgrading transportation.
Our houses and other buildings are also leaky as sieves – it takes $2 to buy a dollar’s worth of heating/cooling due to air leaks. Full weatherization of our buildings – both retrofits and new builds creates another couple of million jobs.
Fossil fuels endanger our health, environment, and national security. We import some 60% of our petroleum, mostly from countries that don’t like us, and destroy our drinking water to mine coal. Both coal and oil are trashing our respiratory health. Converting to wind, solar, and non-food biofuels will solve those problems and generate more millions of jobs.
Our national parks and forests have over $8 billion backlogged maintenance projects. That’s a million summer CCC-type jobs for high school/college kids right there – and carbon sequestration to boot.
Energy creates jobs – making it, keeping it, reducing the need for it. The clean energy and security bill creates jobs needed to protect our national security, our national health, our national budget. Carbon cap and trade hitches the mules of Industry to our national economic plow. The jobs bill currently being worked out creates more. Millions of jobs are crying to be done and 15 million Americans are needing to do them. Shifting to a “green” economy will do the job of ending joblessness as well as the job of domestic security and the job of reducing pollution-caused illnesses. Lincoln, Pryor, and Boozman have jobs. Call them and tell them to get to work on the energy and jobs bills so the rest of America can, too.
Barbara Fitzpatrick
Fayetteville
Contact Lincoln, Pryor or Boozman
- Blanche L. Lincoln – Phone: 479-251-1410 (Fayetteville office) | Email: website form
- Mark Pryor – Phone: 877-259-9602 (Little Rock office) | Email: website form
- John Boozman – Phone: 479-725-0400 (Lowell office) | Email: website form
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[Original photo by greenforall.org via Flickr and Creative Commons 2.0.]
Comments
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By burgerboy on January 5th, 2010
Nice work.
By Craig on January 5th, 2010
All good ideas. However, the reason we’re in no hurry for green energy is that existing energy is still too cheap. For example, the cost of a gallon of gas should also include the cost of our (ridiculous) nation building in the middle east region.
(OK, it’s an arguable point why we’re there, but at least in part to civilize the people who own the oil fields. Though they’re not completely to blame; we’ve committed numerous sins of our own over there.)
If a gallon of gas cost 6 or 8 bucks, there’d be a real push for green energy!
By Me on January 5th, 2010
Where will the money come from to pay for all of these jobs? Aren’t we already drowning in debt?
By Barbara Fitzpatrick on January 5th, 2010
Most of these things are like repairing a hole in your roof – it costs something up front, but prevents much higher costs later. Yes, at the moment we’re drowning in debt. The military budget is a large part of that. Since we went to no-bid contracts, we’ve enriched a few private corporations at the expense of millions of taxpayers. We’re also still building Cold War equipment, mostly because nobody wants to face closing those factories and putting those communities out of work. If we use those same dollars more efficiently (and change what those factories make) we can pay the up-front costs and save money at the same time. Essentially, we’ve got to start thinking and planning – and spending – for long-term benefit instead of short-term greed.
By ArkInvestor on January 5th, 2010
Yes, that’s the solution! Forget about contacting your elected representatives, be the first to go look the working poor in the eyes and tell them they need to pay $8 a gallon to assuage your liberal white guilt.
By Craig on January 6th, 2010
Again, great editorial and follow up. And good thought about altering factory output from useless Cold War technology to something that would help us be energy independent.
Just that I looked into putting solar panels on my house some years ago and it was too expensive. But there are other green efficiencies to be done.
Re: $8 gas:
1. Make green energy competitive without the need for subsidies.
2. Stimulate the use of public transportation.
3. Pay for all costs associated with our petrol consumption instead of passing off costs to the next generation. Right now, China is paying for our nation building among oil rich nations. To the degree this is political, it’s a conservative idea. (So not sure where my liberal white guilt comes in?)
By Barbara Fitzpatrick on January 6th, 2010
I know what you mean about the solar panels. I’ve been wanting to and not able to afford it for about 35 years now. Maybe next year… But yes, there are many things that can be done to reduce energy load and that’s what the proposed “cash for caulkers” is all about. Every leak closed saves energy AND money. I just closed the leak around my furnace exhaust pipe with styrofoam peanuts (from a Xmas package) stuffed into a plastic newspaper sleeve stuffed around the pipe and taped in place. I’ve replaced most of my single-pane windows with Energy Star multipanes (average 2 a year until done). You can re-use bubble wrap to wrap water pipes (or your hot water heater). In earlier times when I lived in less efficient homes, I’ve plugged holes too big to caulk with a mixture of sawdust and elmer’s wood glue. And blankets on the walls (like the tapestries of old) help, too. So does closing off rooms if you don’t use them. Weatherization is a win-win. Weatherization programs by creating jobs to do what the homeowner for some reason or another can’t is a win-win-win (except for the energy company CEOs, of course).