[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Bhaalspawn

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article reporting on the results of a Spanish study which showed that Spain's policy of forcing green energy on people resulted in a loss of about 2.2 jobs per green job created (as well as very high electricity prices). Could something similar be part of Michigan's future? Is it time to elect a governor who knows what nuclear power is and who isn't afraid to use the word "nuclear" in speeches about energy policy?

Sounds like an advertisement for DTE itself..

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Sounds like an advertisement for DTE itself..

What is DTE?

[michigan83]

If we're not moving towards green energy because it's cheaper than "dirty energy", then yes, it will hurt the economy. There's no way around it. If green energy was more cost-effective, we wouldn't need the government to mandate it. It would come as a result of market forces.

The problem is, people will see the jobs that are created due to green energy, but the harmful effects aren't readily visible. These come in the form of higher taxes and higher energy prices, which will destroy jobs in other areas of the economy.

With all of that being said... if we really want to protect our environment at all costs, we should push the green energy movement forward. The key is to stop pretending that it will help the economy, and come to terms with the fact that we are making an economic sacfrifice to have a cleaner planet. Currently, there's a lot of people who either won't admit that (because it doesn't exactly help to push the agenda), or simply don't understand economics.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by michigan83

If we're not moving towards green energy because it's cheaper than "dirty energy", then yes, it will hurt the economy. There's no way around it. If green energy was more cost-effective, we wouldn't need the government to mandate it. It would come as a result of market forces.

The problem is, people will see the jobs that are created due to green energy, but the harmful effects aren't readily visible. These come in the form of higher taxes and higher energy prices, which will destroy jobs in other areas of the economy.

With all of that being said... if we really want to protect our environment at all costs, we should push the green energy movement forward. The key is to stop pretending that it will help the economy, and come to terms with the fact that we are making an economic sacfrifice to have a cleaner planet. Currently, there's a lot of people who either won't admit that (because it doesn't exactly help to push the agenda), or simply don't understand economics.

The harmful effects and "true costs" of cheap dirty energy are also not always recognizable at first glance (oil dependence, propping up radical oil rich regimes, global instability, environmental and health damage). You'll never see Exxon add in those costs to the barrel prices, yet we pay them.

piratte, DTE is one of the two big utility companies in Michigan (Consumers Energy being the other).

[Bhaalspawn]

DTE = Detroit Edison, the company that provides the electricity and that operates the Fermi nuclear power plans in Monroe.