As part of the platform of the new administration a figure of 2 1/2 million to 5  million "new" jobs has been repeatedly promised. A large proportion of these have apparently been anticipated in a new Green Energy sector. As is typical in those to whom "Green Energy" seems more a choice than a radical realignment of our entire economy the proponents of this approach see a seamless jump to an already existing set of energy generation technologies. We can displace workers from those old nasty fossil fuel jobs and employ those hammered by the economic downturn in jobs manufacturing and installing the new energy grid and clean vehicles.

 I have yet to see a meaningful analysis of how this process might occur from the mainstream media. Solar and wind power seem to be the technologies most commonly espoused. Even "clean" coal use has been recommended by the President-elect.Of course, we are 24 YEARS into our attempt to make coal clean enough for the environmental lobby and are not even close. We have had wind turbines in Banning Pass in southern California since the 1970s and anyone familiar with the history of this technology knows its pitfalls. Turbines work only when the wind blows. Constant wind is rare except along the seacoast (no-no, you will hurt the fish and the view). Turbines are a resistance device and require massive maintenance. Solar panels are inefficient and expensive.  There is no current model for large scale production. Electric cars have limited range and are inefficient due to massive battery weight. Nobody knows how to build any of these things on a large scale. Oh, and the cost factor. I priced solar technology to take my house off the grid. $40,000-$80,000 for all our power needs. OK for Ed Begley, not for me.

 Before we jump into training programs for technologies that work poorly and have yet to be integrated into a modern power dependent society maybe a little research is indicated. I expect the research to be as fruitful and rapid as the massive push for the cure and vaccine for AIDS has been.