Stimulus 'Green Jobs' Money Flowing

[Jewel]

Stimulus 'Green Jobs' Money Flowing

Gov. Ed Rendell signs certification letters making the state eligible for federal stimulus funds to develop alternative energy projects and promote energy conservation at the Accu-Weld Replacement Window and Door Company in Bensalem yesterday. (Krystle Marcellus/The Bulletin)

By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Bensalem — Gov. Ed Rendell, D, yesterday signed two letters allowing Pennsylvania to access roughly $366 million from the federal “economic stimulus” for “green-collar” job creation.

After a tour of the Accu-Weld Replacement Window and Door Company, Mr. Rendell signed a certification letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and another letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). The documents included a promise to reduce energy consumption across the state.

Accu-Weld is one company whose production meets the energy efficiency standards outlined in the stimulus act and has, therefore, seen demand for its products increase. Mr. Rendell said five additional companies considered environmentally friendly by the state are already receiving a total of $3.7 million in grants from the stimulus, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The other companies include Bridge Business Center in Bucks County, Sysco Food Services in Philadelphia, the Williamsport Hospital and Medical Center, Carlisle Syn Tech in Cumberland County and Campus Square Partners in Dauphin County.

Leveraging $19 million in private-sector money, the five projects are officially expected to yield 155 Pennsylvania jobs.

“The green-energy jobs are the jobs of the future,” Mr. Rendell said. “We have been farsighted and visionary when it comes to this.”

But some estimates the state has made in the past about future job growth resulting from state subsidies haven’t come to fruition. Critics of green-jobs programs say the commonwealth and the companies receiving funds shouldn’t tout the spending until they can prove they will cause all of the jobs show up.

“When I was in school and we did math problems, we got points taken off if we didn’t show the work,” Nathan Benefield, policy research director of the Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation, said. “That’s the problem with this. I’d like to see the work.”

In addition to the green-jobs subsidies, ARRA also provides a 30 percent tax credit, capped at $1,500, to homeowners who purchase equipment to reduce their residential energy consumption. Mr. Rendell said weatherization and other actions homeowners can take to reduce energy costs have the added benefit of being labor-intensive, thereby leading to the creation of even more employment opportunities for state residents.

“This is going to save America money, it’s going to improve our environment and it’s going to create new jobs,” Mr. Rendell said.

The underlying assumption has been frequently criticized since President Barack Obama and governors, like Mr. Rendell, began pushing for an economic stimulus months ago. While an infusion of taxpayer dollars into a business can lead to new job positions, many object that the money must first be taxed or borrowed out of the private sector, often leading to a net creation of less jobs. And if companies manufacturing products with an eye toward energy efficiency were actually competitive, Mr. Benefield said, they wouldn’t need government assistance.

“It doesn’t seem that politics would be the way to determine our future technologies,” he said.

Bradley Vasoli can be reached at [e-mail]