A Stupid Stumbling Into Spain's Green Quagmire

On eight occasions, the occupant of the White House referred to the Spanish model as an example to follow. The paradox is that it is a model that Obama himself wants Spain to abandon, as made clear in his call to Zapatero last week in which he asked him to change his strategy on the crisis. _La Gaceta (English translation,)

For every green job created by the Spanish government, Alvarez found that 2.2 jobs were destroyed elsewhere in the economy because resources were directed politically and not rationally, as in a market economy. _IBD

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The US President Obama has bought into Spain's "green economic miracle" lock, stock, and barrel. According to Mr. Obama, the way of the "Spanish green" will be the path to widespread economic prosperity, employment, and well-being for all. Unfortunately for the US president, the Spanish green has proven to be a mass delusion of lies, incompetence, and criminality.

The president of the United States, Barack Obama, doesn’t seem to have chosen the right model to copy for his “green economy,” Spain. After the government of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero demonized a study of different experts about the fatal economic consequences of renewable energies, an internal document from the Spanish cabinet that it is even more negative has just been leaked.

To one of the authors of the first report, Gabriel Calzada, “the government has leaked it intentionally in order to turn the media against renewable energies and to be stronger in negotiations with businesses.”

Because even though Zapatero himself opposes abandoning his grand bet, some voices — such as the minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastián — are beginning to express their worry over the enormous debt that has been generated by the investment in so-called clean energies, which could even delay Spain’s exit from the economic crisis.

On eight occasions, the occupant of the White House referred to the Spanish model as an example to follow. The paradox is that it is a model that Obama himself wants Spain to abandon, as made clear in his call to Zapatero last week in which he asked him to change his strategy on the crisis.

The internal report of the Spanish administration admits that the price of electricity has gone up, as well as the debt, due to the extra costs of solar and wind energy. Even the government numbers indicate that each green job created costs more than 2.2 traditional jobs, as was shown in the report of the Juan de Mariana Institute. Besides that, the official document is almost a copy point by point of the one that led to Calzada being denounced [lit. "vetoed"] by the Spanish Embassy in an act in the U.S. Congress.

The presentation recognizes explicitly that “the increase of the electric bill is principally due to the cost of renewable energies.” In fact, the increase in the extra costs of this industry explains more than 120% of the variation in the bill and has prevented the reduction in the costs of conventional electricity production to be reflected on the bills of the citizens. _La Gaceta_via_PJMedia

Anyone who has taken the time to educate himself about wind energy and "green energy" could have predicted the horrendous economic fallout for Spain and any other jurisdiction that fell for the slimed over green sales pitch.

And tragically, in the US, it is states such as California and Massacussetts -- states already drowning in public sector union obligation debt -- who are falling head over heels for the ruinous green energy scam.

You may be thinking that this economic quagmire is just one of many economic quagmires that Mr. Obama is leading the US into -- the greatest quagmire being the massive acceleration of government debt accumulation. You would be correct to a certain extent, but energy in a high tech society is the same as prosperity, and very close to life itself for the masses. Without energy there is no food and without food there is starvation, disease, insurrection, and widespread death. Without energy there is no industry, commerce, nor jobs.

The green Spanish quagmire represents not only an increase in economic hardship, unemployment, and a massive waste of resources. It represents the intentional neglect of genuine energy -- which is the neglect of life.

Update: More on the "Green Jobs Myth"

For every green job created by the Spanish government, Alvarez found that 2.2 jobs were destroyed elsewhere in the economy because resources were directed politically and not rationally, as in a market economy.

"The loss of jobs could be greater if you account for the amount of lost industry that moves out of the country due to higher energy prices," the professor told the press.

Alvarez's findings, of course, were rejected by the environmental left, which tried to smear him as a stooge of the oil industry.

But inconveniently for the eco-conscious, his results have been backed up by Carlo Stagnaro and Luciano Lavecchia, a couple of researchers from the Italian think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni. _IBD