(Disclaimer: this blog mainly addresses the auto and transportation industry, but the concepts apply to those in the energy industry (coal and electric power) as well)

I get it, I really do. People want to save the planet, clean up the ozone, cease pollution and save the whales. It's a noble cause, for sure, but at what price? At what point should we interrupt the natural ebb and flow of industry to push for completely green solutions? I don't disagree that they need to occur, but thanks to demands by environmentalists, lobbyists, and congress, we are pushing this agenda way too hard and way too quickly. I agree, let's make it happen, but let's make it happen on a timeline that doesn't do more harm than good.

Industry and technology is an ever-growing beast, developing new solutions to old problems everyday, and incorporating and retrofitting those solutions so that today's industry can produce tomorrow's standards. That's natural, that's healthy. Creating the microwave didn't do away with the stove...it just gave another, more efficient option to cook. Engineering working-class sedans in the 70's didn't do away with the raw muscle of the big block motors of the 60's, it simply created a more economical option..and from there it snowballed, so that now, 40 years later, we have the option to buy a big-motored sports car, a tiny electric smart car, or any number of options in between. Developing the smart car didn't put Detroit muscle out of business, it simply threw another option into the free market.

But that's changing, and its not change I can believe in. There's nothing negative about pressuring auto makers to meet a higher MPG rating - but there is something negative about REQUIRING it. And there's something VERY negative about requiring it on a very quick timeline. The government (and EPA) is essentially forcing companies to abandon their business models for the sake of achieving government compliance, and in doing so, they are putting a bullet through the very heart of the free-market economy. By striving to "protect" the environment they are ripping the seems out of industries that have naturally developed for almost 100 years. The auto industry will no longer be allowed to develop "newer, cooler" technology to impress customers, it will be forced to engineer vehicles that meet the standards of Uncle Sam, and in doing so quality and design will suffer. The art of automobile engineering is a thing of the past, as we push quantity (of gas mileage) over quality (of vehicle). Of course it will get 80mpg - but it's made of plastic, has 15 horsepower and weighs the same as a Radio Flyer wagon. And it looks as ugly as, well, a Prius, or a Smart Car, or any number of hideous looking machines that are starting to come out now. But that problem would only be a small problem if it stopped there....unfortunately it doesn't. That problem is about to become a disaster.

In an effort to "save the planet," the government, lobbyists, and environmentalists are pushing for more than just the murder of free-market American ingenuity, they are also pushing for the destruction of millions of American jobs. I mentioned before that industry has a natural ebb and flow - it progresses on its own and builds on its foundation. When the air conditioner was invented for vehicles, they didn't stop installing windows that rolled down, they just added the technology. That's changing though. With the pushing of "green energy" the powers that be are hoping to shut down the use of "dirty energy." This dirty energy however, is responsible for 9 million US jobs around the country. It would be one thing if we could just slowly incorporate clean energy into our economy, but there will be nothing slow about it. The goverment has created immediate deadlines requiring astronomical changes in technology. These speedy requirements will not simply allow engineers to develop new technology to retrofit, they require all new companies, machinery, and employees - essentially a whole new face of the industry. The advocates tout that use of clean energy will create thousands of jobs, and that's true, but they fail to mention the MILLIONS of people that will be out of work - people that have grown up, lived and worked in this industry their whole lives. You think the unemployment rate is bad now? Just you wait - its going to get worse if this agenda is pushed through. You see, these new clean energy requirements can't be met by everyone in the auto industry, so companies will fall. New ones will be created with the sole purpose of green energy, sure, but only a fraction of those put out of work by this agenda will recover.

So, I ask, is the speedy push of green energy worth the cost that it will require? Will the millions of jobs lost be justified by less pollution? Or, would it be wiser (although, I'll admit, far less "hip") to encourage the industry to create and incorporate clean energy the way it has for 70 years - slowly, with purpose, and without destroying an industry that is one of America's economic backbones?  You decide.