Well, installation jobs are a short-lived 'one shot deal'. Maintenance jobs last as long as the equipment does. However, whatever net benefit additional green energy maintenance jobs may create has to be balanced against the additional loss of 'conventional' jobs caused by green energy technology's higher resulting energy prices, as well as against the 'unseen' new jobs which might have been created in other sectors had the taxpayer money used to subsidize green energy been invested in another business venture or left in people's pockets to be spent on existing businesses.
Bloomberg reported on a study performed on Spanish solar and wind effects on the overall economy, which showed that for every ( taxpayer subsidized ) green energy jobs created, two ( self-sustaining ) conventional jobs were eventually lost. See
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=a2PHwqAs7BS0 . Without getting political, the point raised by the study is that solar and wind economics is dependent on taxpayer subsidies and/or above-market prices being paid for the power they generate ... which in turn increases average electricity prices ... which in turn motivates energy intensive businesses to not expand / to relocate / to shut down. Again the Broken Window Theory ... counting only the 'seen' but discounting the 'unseen' makes for happy headlines, but the real world economic effects can't be as easily discounted.
Would-be strip club and/or webcam customers having to pay higher electric bills, having to pay higher prices for products which require a lot of energy input ( example - food ), having to pay higher taxes to fund green energy grants, tax credits and subsidies, etc. can translate into fewer lap dances or fewer paid webcam sessions able to be purchased by those customers. However, it is unlikely that dancers or camgirls will actually 'connect the dots' in this regard, or realize that they are now being cast in the role of the 'tailor' in the original Broken Window Theory example.
Granted that, as is the case with other types of ( taxpayer subsidized ) tech industries, areas that are the 'lucky' recipient of solar and wind dollars do benefit significantly on a localized basis. But, as before, this arguably comes at the 'cost' of slower economic conditions in other areas which have lots of taxpayers, but few or no local solar or wind industries.
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