Green Jobs

In this, the final of five segments from a much longer interview, listen to the choices faced by families on fixed incomes. One retiree says that paying ever-increasing energy bills "is like juggling the ball, as long as you don't drop it. Every time the bills come each month, you have to know what to pay, what not to pay, and how much to pay....

"All of those have to come together every month."

Are they saving anything? "No, not really." Instead, they struggle to avoid interest and late fees.

Green Jobs

Claims that "green" jobs will help the economy ring false, for the simple reason that green jobs often replace other jobs. Spain, once held up as a model for creating jobs in alternative energy production, found that government-subsidized jobs paid less than other jobs; that the net effect was job losses; and that green jobs only last as long as the government subsidies.

Bishop Harry Jackson warns about these unintended consequences of energy restrictions. "It sounds like we're setting ourselves up for...a goal that sounds wonderful, but at a tremendous human cost."

Gov. George Allen agrees. "Real people are affected by these policies. It's not just theory.... Energy effects everything. It affects everything you do in your life--how you get to work, the jobs we have, the competitiveness of our country, the jobs in our country...."

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