Now Hiring: Green-Collar Workers

A BusinessWeek story on the Obama Administration's plans to pump billions into clean energy projects that could create as many as 1.5 million new green jobs featured a quote from Tom Bogart (dean, academic affairs):

William Bogart, economics professor and dean of academic affairs at York College of Pennsylvania, is skeptical of the plan. He doesn't doubt that it will create jobs, but he's concerned that is isn't an efficient way to spend money and that government's decisions on which companies get funding could be influenced by politics, especially since the definition of a "green job" is subjective. 

"If what you're concerned about is carbon emissions, then you should tax carbon," Bogart says. "When the relative price of oil and coal compared to hydro, wind, and nuclear goes up, it makes noncarbon energy more appealing. Economically, it's the same effect . . . but you're doing it in a way that preserves flexibility and inidividual opportunity."