Republican legislators want to create jobs and right now they are fueled by a growing public perception that a Democratically controlled Senate and White House can’t get the job done.
They are now the self-proclaimed masters of the economy and job creation, or at least that’s the frequent claim among GOP presidential candidates.
And perhaps it’s true. But now two pieces of Republican dogma have been fused: skepticism of climate change and a job-creation agenda.
According to The Washington Post, “House Republicans are planning votes for almost every week this fall in an effort to repeal environmental and labor requirements on business that they say have hampered job growth.”
This also comes on the heels of some serious jabs at the scientific community. Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, recently called into question the theory of evolution as well as the human impact on climate change.
As GOP candidate Jon Huntsman recently stated, he is concerned that his party is dangerously close to becoming the “anti-science party.”
The general consensus among right-wing media is that global warming is a “hoax” perpetrated by 98 percent of the scientific community, who, as Perry said, “have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects.”
And the regulations for conservation of the environment, handed down by the EPA, are strangling the economy.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume this is correct. The environment is fine — climate change is normal, and not effected in the least by man-made pollution, etc.
Let’s just talk business.
Now, the assumption is that environmentalism is bad for business and job growth. Perry sure thinks so — and indeed, it might be “bad” for some businesses. Say, if you’re in the oil industry, hypothetically, in Perry’s home state, it might be costly to adhere to EPA regulations.
But there are, by far, more jobs to be had and more money to be made in embracing environmentalism than in fighting it. Green jobs are still jobs, even if they don’t give you lung cancer or pollute the ocean.
In fact, green jobs are a massive part of the growing economy — just look at Arizona. According to The Arizona Republic, renewable energy, and solar in particular, is “thriving” as one of the fastest growing industries in the state — and during the Great Recession too.
In the past three years, Arizona has had a cluster of solar companies open shop, including big industry names like First Solar, Power-One, and DIRTT. They were drawn to Arizona, in large part, by Arizona’s renewable energy tax credits and incentives, according to The Arizona Republic.
That equates to thousands of jobs for Arizonans and hundreds of millions of dollars of capital investment in the state’s economy. And most of them are high-wage, skilled positions. To put this type of economic development in layman’s terms: Jackpot!
As it turns out, the GOP’s anti-science attitude isn’t just affecting their intellectual credibility, but also their judgment with job creation as well.
Being environmentally responsible isn’t the problem; it’s the solution.
Meanwhile, there have been a few hints at what President Barack Obama’s eagerly awaited, post-Labor day, “jobs speech” will hold in store.
According to The Washington Post, Obama has been discussing an “initiative aimed at having construction workers retrofit commercial buildings to make them more energy efficient.”
According to the article, this is an idea that could create up to one million jobs. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Who knows, maybe we can save the economy and the environment at the same time.
Pitch job creation ideas at djoconn1@asu.edu.
