A Green Economy Through Green Revolution.

Vowing to pump $150 billion into green technology over the next decade, U.S. President Barack Obama has made big promises about his environmental agenda. "It will also help us transform our industries and steer our country out of this economic crisis by generating 5 million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced," he said in November. British Prime Minister has also called for an international "Green New Deal" to create a "low-carbon recovery." The United Nations wants a full 1 percent of global GDP to go to environmental initiatives. Rich countries such as Canada, Japan, and South Korea are obliging, spending billions to promote ecofriendly projects and green businesses. Many of these ideas are very much worth pursuing for environmental reasons. But it's doubtful they offer a double dividend of helping to jump-start the economy. For one thing, the global financial crisis is fundamentally about different issues.These pressing problems won't be solved by switching to hydrogen-powered cars or installing solar panels on every roof. Anti-carbon regulations will simultaneously create and destroy jobs. Take the United States, given the country's current reliance on cheap, coal-fired power plants, carbon caps will translate into higher electricity prices. Older manufacturing firms--especially in energy-intensive industries such as petroleum and coal products, paper, cement, and primary metals--will face higher costs of doing business, and this may lead them to shut down or seek international locations. In the long run, a little creative destruction will likely be a good thing ,but it is required for all those nations interested in The Green Economy to maintain the balance between the previous output and the one which is supposed to be reached through green technologies. 2009/04/20

Copyright 2003-2009 Mojnews Agency. All rights reserved

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company