The last several years we’ve been plastered with a push for everything green. We are asked to stop receiving bank statements and bills via paper in the name of going green. We have green micro size cars that plug in and will drive 75 miles on a single charge, SUV’s are bad in the name of green, we are losing normal incandescent light bulbs in the name of green and soon we will have to use CFL’s in the name of green.

Another enormous push the last couple of years (since the stimulus) has been the creation and promotion of green jobs. The stimulus funneled roughly $70 Billion to the energy economy most of which was to green energy.

Personally, I’m willing to make some green concessions, I recycle (most of the “stuff most of the time), I bought a kegerator so I’m not creating the can and bottle waste that all you other beer drinkers are leaving behind (truth be told that wasn’t my motivation). I even have a refillable water bottle and a small car (Volvo S60) that I use for commuting to/from work. For a conservative chap, I feel like that makes me pretty green. I don’t have solar added to our home; I don’t contribute to the electric company so they can buy more of those gigantic windmills to produce electricity. I certainly don’t wear green on my sleeves like many people do, but I try to do my part. (I know…how big of me).

I have to laugh at the ignorance of some people though. I have neighbors that refuse to run their A/C on 95 degree days in the name of reducing their carbon footprint. I know people that have invested in solar panels for their home even though they will never see the return on their investment. I know our federal government gave $20 Million dollars to the city of Seattle to create green jobs only to see a return of 14 jobs from that investment. That equates to a cost of $1,428,571.43 per job. Great job!

I have to lay something out here…I have no problem with making a shift and trying to be more green, but I believe in being responsible about it because I have not drank any of that Kool-Aid.

I understand why the government wants clean coal technology, I understand why they want to get away from crude oil, I understand why they want to find alternative fuel sources and encourage companies to be more innovative. I just don’t understand why anyone thinks we can run over all the energy companies forcing them in a short amount of time to change the way they do business without having something to take its place. I don’t understand how we can give $20 million to a city to produce green jobs and basically just abandon all sense of reason.

Why didn’t we invest some of this money in new refineries to help reduce the cost of gasoline (last refinery built in the US was 1993)? Why aren’t we drilling in the oil rich portions of the US instead of giving Venezuela $2 Billion for offshore drilling? Why didn’t we produce another nuclear facility to help cover the current need while still using some of the stimulus to research and learn more about how we could create green energy for a lower price? Why are we trying to cut off the use of fossil fuels even though we Gasoline powered engines are not disappearing overnight so let’s slow down and make this change responsibly. Green jobs aren’t going to be the only jobs overnight either so let’s stop penalizing the current energy companies because that will just equate to higher prices for us.

It’s time for people to pull their heads out of their asses. We are not Europe and most of us don’t want to be Europe. We need to start approaching future decisions with common sense and accountability. The days of blindly throwing money at problems has to change. We need to add accountability and find someone in Washington DC that has at least a shred of common sense to start monitoring this garbage. In the months leading up to the 2012 Presidential election, I bet we’ll hear a lot more of these examples. We passed this asinine stimulus and health care bills and we found out what was in it. It’s just too bad we trusted our representatives to actually represent us.

Anyone but Obama 2012

Squeaky…