Green Jobs to China?

Massachusetts taxpayers have subsidized green jobs for a few years. Evergreen Solar is one of a few company which have benefited from revitalization efforts at Devens, a former Army base. Now facing competition and lack of demand the company is shifting green jobs to China.

And financial analysts quoted in the WSJ say that's not even enough, the company is hamstrung by needing to keep 350 jobs in Massachusetts as part of the deal the company made with the state when it built the Devens facility. Another issue is that Chinese companies are flooding the market with cheaper solar panels.

This is the industry that is supposed to be saving American jobs, but the reality is that no industry is safe from international competition.

If the government truly wants to help out with jobs, it should be subsidizing large scale infrastructure projects. We have an aging electrical grid that needs tons of work, aging rail systems, aging bridges and tunnels. There are plenty of opportunities for our tax dollars to benefit all by investing in the very backbone of our country. These would be American jobs because they are projects located within our borders. Of course, our government would probably award the contracts to foreign owned construction companies.