Just as intended, the much criticized Stimulus bill has in fact created jobs. Unfortunately, not American jobs.
According to the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, nearly $2 billion in money from the American Recovery and Investment Act has been spent on wind power. The goal was to further energy independence while creating American jobs. It has done neither.
Of the money spent, according to the report, nearly 80% has gone to foreign manufacturers of wind turbines.
The only good thing one can say is that at least China is a real place, as opposed to the phantom ZIP codes and congressional districts in which the administration has claimed to have created jobs.
But how does buying wind turbines made in China create energy independence or create jobs?
Last October, on the day the workshop first reported on this story, a consortium of U.S. and Chinese companies announced a deal to build a $1.5 billion wind farm in Texas, using imported Chinese turbines.
The project is expected to create some temporary construction jobs in America. Some 2,000 manufacturing jobs will be created in China. In a message posted on his Facebook page, Secretary Chu wrote that the point of the grant program was “ensuring America leads the world in creating jobs in manufacturing the parts that go into wind farms” and even export components to foreign wind farms. It hasn’t worked out that way.
Of the 1,807 turbines erected on 28 wind farms receiving grants, foreign-owned manufacturers built 1,219, according to the workshop report. The installation of these turbines may have created as many as 6,838 manufacturing jobs overseas.
Seriously, WTF?
Or as they said over at PowerLine: “If the Obama administration were actually trying to damage our economy, it is not clear that it could do a better job.”
actually it is not that hard to setup wind farms, the only problem is that it requires lots of capital investment.~:~
wind farms are great but they also take up a large land area:.;
wind farms are eco friendly and can generate massive amounts of electricity;`-