Green jobs scam

Dear Editor:How ironic that on the same day I read in The Downey Patriot, "Alternative Energy Will Put People to Work" (2/24/11), extolling the virtues of all these soon-to-be abundant, great alternative energy jobs if taxes can be raised and government money can be secured, I happened to read an article titled, "Dark Days for Solar Power," discussing the closure of a Solyndra solar cell plant in Fremont a year after receiving $535 million in government stimulus money. I also seem to recall a recent article about a wind turbine manufacturing company getting tons of stimulus money to make these expensive bird-death-traps - in China! I believe Harry Reid was involved in the deal. But all politics aside, let's just get a basic economic principle straight. If government has to subsidize an industry, that means it is not economically viable on its own. And yet another article I just read (yes, I like to read) brought the harsh reality of this economy and its effect on the green industry to light. People aren't buying expensive, less effective "green" stuff like solar power anymore, not even to feel good, because it's, well, too expensive. So the anonymous author of the Patriot article can continue to live in his/her utopian bubble, but all the evidence on the ground suggests that "green" jobs here in America are more a government scam than a viable future for Americans. And since our president has refused to allow us to tap into our own natural resources, the idea of energy dependence is nothing more than a joke - a joke we will all pay dearly for. Brace yourselves for that $5/gallon gasoline coming our way real soon. -- Alaina Niemann, Downey

********** Published: March 3, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 46