Faith-based employment and the ‘green gospel’
Written by Tom Morrissey | | news@toledofreepress.comAs the invitation hymn drones from the church organ, the altar call continues, and the worshippers are hitting the altar, surrendering their lives, repenting of past sin and promising different lives. Quasi – evangelists are preaching an apocalyptic doctrine that trumps the Book of Revelation: The end of the world is nigh! Forget the Christian’s imminent, prophetic rapture; if global warming is allowed to effervesce, Jesus Christ will return to a desolated world, ruined by the gas humans He created exhale and His plants inhale — carbon dioxide. What irony.
Carty Finkbeiner, Marcy Kaptur, Keith Wilkowski and others of Toledo’s political class have been converted by the “green gospel”. Whether their faith is real or their repentance is phony doesn’t matter. They are diving head first into their faith, and you are expected to comply.
Kaptur was unsure about her faith when it came time for believers to stand for their faith and pass the Cap and Trade Bill in the House of Representatives — a bill that guaranteed higher energy costs to her constituents. California Democrat Henry Waxman exhorted and encouraged Marcy’s faith by blessing her with a $3.5 billion amendment that provided renewable energy ventures and other projects for Ohio and neighboring states. Just the sign her faith (and vote) needed.
Finkbeiner touts Toledo as a city that leads in the production of alternative energy. His faith has been bolstered by praise from CNN and ABC News.
Mayoral candidate Wilkowski believes “green- collar jobs” are the answer to Toledo’s economics problems. He wants to see energy-efficient homes and businesses be improved by green jobs created locally. He also believes that alternative-energy manufacturing jobs will be high-paying, valuable jobs.
It is silly that these political elites remain steadfast in their faith to combat global warming. Since the cycling between the dire warnings of global warming and global cooling since 1895 has become so dependable, the term “climate change” has been introduced to save embarrassment.
In 1895, the New York Times (NYT) warned of another Ice Age. The warning was repeated by the NYT in 1924. In 1933, the Times ran an AP story that declared the highest temperatures since 1776. In 1975, the New York Times reported on a cooling that was thought to be approaching. To round out the cycle, the 2005 Times warned the world about the new global warming.
Fifty bucks says in 20 years, the Times will warn about cooling again.
Besides the change in temperature warnings, it is asinine for Toledo’s political elite to jump on the climate change bandwagon to reduce carbon dioxide because the earth’s temperature has not risen since 2001, despite massive surges in carbon dioxide production.
In America, who or what one chooses to worship is up to the individual, no matter how odd one’s belief may appear. Those worshipping at the green altar at the beckoning of green evangelists may seem ridiculous to me, but they can worship as they please as long as they leave me alone. However, the result of the green religion will cost citizens money and jobs.
In our depressed market, talk of bringing new jobs to Toledo is welcome with the popular emphasis on green jobs. But why should we discriminate? Bring any color job here and give those jobs the same drinking fountain and bus seat privileges that green jobs get. After close examination and observance of green jobs in Spain, one will understand that the hyped, faith-based green jobs are getting undeserved attention.
In Spain, an economics professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Gabriel Calzada, has released a report that some believe buries the myths behind “lucrative” green jobs. Spain has supported the production of renewable energy and the creation of green jobs like no other. Despite green jobs, Spain’s unemployment rate is more than 18 percent. Calzada has concluded that green jobs are often temporary and cost between $750,000 and $800,000 in subsidies. Wind- power jobs are priced at $1.4 million each. Calzada also found that for every green job created, 2.2 jobs were lost in other industries, costing Spain’s struggling job market 110,000 jobs.
Tolerance for those who have faith in the green gospel is possible, but tolerance ends when the faith demands one should waste money on jobs as worship is pursued. The example of failure Spain has set forth is not the model of disappointment Toledo needs to emulate. Let the alternative-energy companies operate, but let’s not invest Toledo’s capital in their operations.
E-mail columnist Tom Morrissey at letters@toledofreepress.com.
We want alternatives to the status quo, we cannot be held hostage to foreign leaders who are hostile to us and sell us oil, was the noise for the last few years and continues.
The “green” industry is any thing but green, well, except for profits for the backers and supporters, T. Boone Pickens, didn’t sink his money into the wind sector, because he is an environmentalist, no, he is out to make a profit, buy what ever means at his disposal, oil, wind, solar, any way to make more money.
Solar panels are made with polycrystalline silicon, hardly a green process.
The wind turbines are made with large amounts of steel, hardly green.
The “green jobs” are so limited in scope and numbers and there is simply not enough to make up for the number of people looking for work.
Using Spain as an example, shows one side, while Germany has seen growth in the green industry
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2008/04/renewable-energy-jobs-soar-in-germany-52089
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 10:49 amWhat a God-awful article. Young Tom should repent and be more faithful to the facts. The Spain study was debunked by the Wall Street Journal, no less.
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/03/30/green-jobs-ole-is-the-spanish-clean-energy-push-a-cautionary-tale/
We can only pray that Tom takes some time to learn what “climate” means. Temperatures may fluctuate from year to year, but the Earth’s temperature has been steadily warming since the Industrial Revolution–in part due to man’s burning of fossil fuels.
Science deniers like young Tom can keep their heads in the sand all they want. But please step aside first so the grown-ups can get to work.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 4:10 pmScience deniers?
Seems to me like the global warming alarmists are the ones denying actual science.
And as far as I can tell, that WSJ article didn’t debunk anything.
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This comment was posted on August 11th, 2009 at 2:23 pm