September 9, 2009
Detroit News Publishes Op-ed by Tax Foundation Chief Economist Patrick Fleenor Questioning Cap and Trade’s So-Called “Green Jobs” Creation
"Benefits of cap and trade legislation too costly"
By Patrick Fleenor
Facing growing skepticism over his support of the costly Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, President Barack Obama has decided to recast it as a path to economic prosperity and green jobs.
"We've seen that other countries realize a critical truth," he said in a Rose Garden speech. "The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy."
"Make no mistake," he continued. "This is a jobs bill."
Gov. Jennifer Granholm echoed these sentiments recently: "The old argument that anything that helps the environment has to hurt the economy is over."
If these bold claims -- that cap-and-trade will lead to a booming "clean energy economy" and create "green jobs" -- sound too good to be true, it's because they're not true. ...
