Wind industry picks up, but jobs decline

[phantom power]

But even though a record 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity was created, few jobs were created overall and wind power manufacturing employment fell — a setback for President Obama's pledge to create millions of new "green jobs." Obama has long pitched green jobs, especially in the energy, transportation and manufacturing fields, as a prescription for long-term, stable employment and a prosperous middle class.

But those jobs have been slow to materialize, especially skilled, good-paying blue-collar jobs such as assembling wind turbines, retrofitting homes to use less energy and working on solar panels in the desert.

...

Several factors accounted for the slow start, some of them linked to weakness in the overall economy. Electric power demand fell nationwide last year. Coal and natural gas continued to offer tough price competition. Renewable energy companies, faced with limited demand, often drew down inventory or imported renewable technology instead of building new turbines or solar cells domestically.

Industry analysts and energy company executives said job growth is also hampered by lingering uncertainties in federal energy policy. Those include questions about when or whether existing tax breaks will expire and whether the Senate will pass a climate bill that would make fossil fuels more expensive — and renewable more competitive.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100207/BUSINESS/2070351/Wind+industry+picks+up++but+jobs+decline

[Rapanui1]

1. Free trade as pandered by Clinton, Bush and now Obama

Manufacturing endured us out of the lst Hoover depression now that Clinton has done his charm we have nothing to get us out of this one. Obama is following his own trend renegading on every promise including to curb outsourcing. Common sense dictates that unless some mechanism is put in place no one will pay the American worker a livable wage let alone fair wage when you can hire for dimes to a dollar in India or China. The Indian government highly subsidizes education the US government is busy killing the little educational provess we have.