As President Obama promotes job growth (green jobs) while also mapping out a 21st century energy transformation, he may run into a modern-day hurdle known by all: NIMBY - - Not In My Back Yard
We all know great ideas are great ideas unless they somehow impact us. Once that becomes the case, great ideas often die a quick and painful death. The President's effort to create new jobs through developing the wind, wave, solar and biofuels industries of tomorrow may be the latest casualty of this communal self-interest.
'Green' Push Faces Resistance From Locals
By Ian Talley of the Wall Street Journal (3/20/09)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123757810072598461.html
The risk that President Barack Obama's plans to promote "green jobs" could bog down amid local and state opposition to the transmission lines, windmills and other clean energy hardware is becoming an issue for both supporters and critics of the president's agenda.
A new U.S. Chamber of Commerce Web site launched Friday catalogues 62 wind, wave, solar and biofuel projects and 15 high-voltage transmission proposals across 25 states that have faced significant local opposition, often enough to shut them down entirely. It also documents how 18 natural gas projects, 17 nuclear power plants and around 175 coal plants worth more than $62 billion in investments have encountered local antagonism.
"Just saying you're for green jobs or green technology doesn't get the project built," said William Kovacs, the Chamber's vice president of environment and regulatory affairs. The Chamber advocates setting stricter deadlines for environmental reviews, among other actions.
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