"green jobs"

[Azazello1313]

Energy Dept couldn't manage stimulus money

 

In several of his investigations, Friedman has concluded that the political push to quickly create jobs and spur economic development didn’t match up with economic realities on the ground. And while he credits the department for making significant progress in distributing the federal aid, 45 percent of stimulus dollars distributed by Energy still hadn’t been spent by state and local government as of Oct. 22.

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Friedman also criticized the administration for touting the existence of “shovel ready” projects that needed federal funding in order to be quickly completed. From the start, administration critics were skeptical that enough such projects existed to spur the economy.

 

Friedman agreed: “Few actual ‘shovel ready’ projects existed,” he said. Instead, projects benefiting from Energy Department money “required extensive advance planning, organizational enhancements, and additional staffing and training” that delayed the quick distribution of stimulus dollars.

 

Stimulus-backed projects to weatherize homes also were often of poor quality, Friedman said, and in one case, a weatherization subcontractor gave preferential treatment to his employees and their relatives — meaning eligible elderly and handicapped residents missed out or had to wait for the weatherization of their homes.

 

Lawmakers also heard from Labor Department watchdogs who said the administration’s effort to train unemployed workers for “green jobs” has fallen short of goals.

 

As of June, just 8,000 people had found “green jobs” after completing training programs paid for with Labor Department stimulus dollars, Elliot P. Lewis, assistant inspector general for the Labor Department, told the subcommittee. The department has distributed $490.1 million to training programs in hopes of finding work for at least 80,000 people. But as of June, just 26,000 had completed training program, Lewis said.

 

“Green jobs have not materialized, and therefore job placements had been much less than expected,” Lewis said.

 

"A lot of money was spent; precious few jobs were created and the failure damages the Obama brand in three distinct ways. First, poor jobs growth is the root of all the administration’s other woes. Second, the story undercuts the idea that the stimulus was a good idea and supports the narrative that special interests hijacked it for a porkfest. Third and most deeply, the story reinforces the belief that government planning and industrial policy don’t work.

 

The administration needs to come to grips with this policy failure; when something isn’t working it is time to change course."*

 

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