Green Jobs and Red Tape: Assessing Federal Efforts to Encourage Employment

Opening Statement By

The idea that the government cannot make public investment choices that benefit the country flies in the face of our nation’s actual history.  Canals, railways, roads, ports, highways, airports, the electrical grid and the internet are all the product of government activities.  The government has used different tools at different times to encourage these investments, but all of it was accomplished through government initiative.  Building our current infrastructure created jobs and established the base for a national economy that has been among the most creative and productive in the world. 

As we see new competitors rising around the world, and as we face new environmental challenges and energy supply issues, we need to make sure we step up and prove that we are just as innovative and as dynamic as the Americans that came before us. 

The collapse of the housing market bubble in 2008 brought the country to the edge of economic disaster with high unemployment and a drying up of capital for businesses to meet their day-to-day expenses, much less look for opportunities to expand.

While we like to think that normal economic times find consumer demand the bedrock of our economic prosperity, in the months after September, 2008, the times were hardly normal.  Consumers reeled from collapsing value in their homes and investments.  High unemployment left even those with a job insecure about their financial future.  Faced with these real conditions, it would be foolish to think that consumer demand was going to pull the economy out of the nose dive of what could have become a full-blown depression. 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was adopted by Congress and signed into law by the President with the twin goals of getting American’s back to work and funding projects that would create a more modern, robust infrastructure to support economic growth for future generations. 

The fact that the infrastructure could also reduce our dependence on imported oil and help reduce our carbon emissions producing a cleaner environment and fighting global climate change was an added social benefit.

Despite the investments of ARRA, much remains to be done.  While we are no longer officially in a recession, we need to create almost 14 million jobs to get all Americans back to work.

I believe that we need to make a sustained commitment to public investment in our infrastructure, in our research enterprise and in supporting innovation.  I do not believe that the government is incapable of choosing wisely about public investments. I do not believe that the government has no effective role in the face of high unemployment.  Congress cannot just sit on its hands while people are losing their jobs, the

Opening Statement By Ranking Member Donna Edwards

The idea that the government cannot make public investment choices that benefit the country flies in the face of our nation’s actual history.  Canals, railways, roads, ports, highways, airports, the electrical grid and the internet are all the product of government activities.  The government has used different tools at different times to encourage these investments, but all of it was accomplished through government initiative.  Building our current infrastructure created jobs and established the base for a national economy that has been among the most creative and productive in the world. 

As we see new competitors rising around the world, and as we face new environmental challenges and energy supply issues, we need to make sure we step up and prove that we are just as innovative and as dynamic as the Americans that came before us.

The collapse of the housing market bubble in 2008 brought the country to the edge of economic disaster with high unemployment and a drying up of capital for businesses to meet their day-to-day expenses, much less look for opportunities to expand.

While we like to think that normal economic times find consumer demand the bedrock of our economic prosperity, in the months after September, 2008, the times were hardly normal.  Consumers reeled from collapsing value in their homes and investments.  High unemployment left even those with a job insecure about their financial future.  Faced with these real conditions, it would be foolish to think that consumer demand was going to pull the economy out of the nose dive of what could have become a full-blown depression. 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was adopted by Congress and signed into law by the President with the twin goals of getting American’s back to work and funding projects that would create a more modern, robust infrastructure to support economic growth for future generations. 

The fact that the infrastructure could also reduce our dependence on imported oil and help reduce our carbon emissions producing a cleaner environment and fighting global climate change was an added social benefit.Despite the investments of ARRA, much remains to be done.  While we are no longer officially in a recession, we need to create almost 14 million jobs to get all Americans back to work.

I believe that we need to make a sustained commitment to public investment in our infrastructure, in our research enterprise and in supporting innovation.  I do not believe that the government is incapable of choosing wisely about public investments. I do not believe that the government has no effective role in the face of high unemployment.  Congress cannot just sit on its hands while people are losing their jobs, their security, their homes and their future.

The government has many tools at its disposal to help.  I am particularly interested in seeing the R&D tax credit made permanent and increase the domestic production activities deduction for property manufactured in the U.S. which was the result of R&D done here.  With bipartisan support, I have introduce

Witnesses

Panel

0 - Mr. William Kovacs
Senior Vice President, Environment, Technology & Regulatory Affairs U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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0 - Dr. David Kreutzer
Research Fellow in Energy Economics and Climate Change The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation
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0 - Dr. Josh Bivens
Economist Economic Policy Institute Economic Policy Institute
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0 - Dr. Kenneth P. Green
Resident Scholar The American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute
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0 - Dr. David Montgomery
Economist
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