Letter to the WSJ Editor That Didn’t Make It

Last Saturday, Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) entitled, “Clean Energy is Winning”. It was full of mistruths and half-truths which many in the public would not appreciate. I could not let him get away with this, so I wrote a letter to the editor refuting his points. Well, as of today it did not publish. Here is his letter and my retort.

His letter:
Regarding your editorial: A Better Idea for Green Jobs: (op-ed. Oct.15): Here are the facts. Employment in the U.S. solar industry has doubled in the last two years. Solar energy now employs more than 100,000 Americans, tens of thousands more that in coal mining. The wind industry employs 85,000. According to the Brookings Institutions, the clean economy now employs 2.7 million Americans, more than the fossil-fuel industry.
By comparison, Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron, which made $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, actually reduced their U.S. work forces by a combined 11,200 workers.
Despite rhetorical attacks, clean energy is winning. New wind projects are selling their power for as little as three cents per kilowatt-hour, cheaper than natural gas. America is currently a net exporter of solar technology. We have a renewable energy technology trade surplus with China. From 2007 to 2010, America constructed nearly 32,000 new megawatts of wind, solar and biomass electricity. That is more than three times the amount of new coal during that time. Yet the only clean-energy company that conservatives seem to be able to talk about is Solyndra.
Clean energy employs millions of Americans and provides power to millions more. Most Americans want to see their nation dominate a sector estimated to be worth $12 trillion over the next two decades.
Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass)

My letter to the Editor:
Representative Ed Markey’s (D. Mass) letter in response to your editorial “A Better Idea for Green Jobs”, Oct. 15th once again illustrates how liberal Democrats will provide you with “facts” to make a point but don’t put the “facts” in perspective. The premise of his letter, “Clean Energy Is Winning in the U.S.”, is an extremely misleading thesis and far from the truth. The fact that the solar energy industry employs more than 100,000 Americans, slightly more than coal mining, he says, is nothing to brag about since with this administration many coal companies have been forced to shut down and new ones haven’t started as a conscious result of government regulations which makes it too expensive. He also asserts that 2.7 million people work in the “clean economy” more than what he calls the fossil-fuel industry. This is ridiculous, since more than 9 million are employed in the oil and gas industry alone. Also, he forgot to tell you that if you drive a school bus with a hybrid engine you are counted, by this administration, as working in the green energy industry. He also boosts that America is a net exporter of solar technology with a trade surplus with China. The reason is, there is no market in the U.S. because energy costs are among the lowest in the world, so solar is not competitive. Also, Mr. Markey, we will be soon hearing about many more fiascos’ like Solyandra, and if you would vote for more U.S. oil development and encourage shale-gas production, we would generate more than 1 million jobs almost instantly. You may think “clean energy” is winning, but we are losing because you are in the House of Representatives.
George Ahearn, Ph.D.
Naples, Florida