The leftist spin about the global-warming bills in Congress is that they’re about, in Nancy Pelosi’s words, “Jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs.” Here’s the reality, courtesy of Max Schultz:
[G]overnor [Deval Patrick] helped cut the ribbon at the opening of Evergreen Solar’s new plant in Devens, built with $58 million in state funds.
“We love the jobs, and we love that the jobs include manufacturing jobs,” Patrick said. “I look to this facility as a symbol of the kind of industry we want to build, as a symbol of the future.”
But half a year later the forecast for solar’s future — not to mention the governor’s other green initiatives — is looking cloudy with an increasing chance of failure.
Earlier this month, Evergreen Solar shocked everyone by announcing it is cutting up to half of the 800 jobs at the brand-new, taxpayer-bought Devens plant and shipping them to China. Solar panel materials will still be manufactured in Massachusetts (at least for now), but they will be assembled in a locale with much cheaper costs.
This shock came on the heels of Boston Power Inc. canceling plans to build a 600-job factory in Auburn. It had failed to win a $100 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop advanced battery technology. No government cash, no manufacturing plant and no jobs.
Tens of thousands of Spanish solar workers have been laid off as a result of that country’s flirtation with green jobs. Let’s not get fooled again.