In 2008, the presidential nominees for both major political parties agreed on one thing: that clean energy could create millions of green jobs across the nation.

In 2008, the presidential nominees for both major political parties agreed on one thing: that clean energy could create millions of green jobs across the nation.



“With green technologies, we can create thousands, millions of new jobs in America,” said Arizona’s Republican Sen. John McCain, whose win that year over Mitt Romney in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary set the stage for a successful run for the Republican Party’s nomination.



Then Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama similarly pledged to “establish a green energy sector that will create up to 5 million new jobs over the next two decades.”



A lot can change in four years.



“The ‘green’ technologies are typically far too expensive to compete in the marketplace, and studies have shown that for every ‘green’ job created there are actually more jobs destroyed,” Mitt Romney now claims in his jobs plan.



“You have an administration that is killing jobs because they want to move us to a green energy,” Rick Perry said of the White House during one debate last fall.



This kind of talk does not sit well with the local entrepreneurs who form New Hampshire’s green economy.



“That’s simply not true, because there’s more green jobs today than there are jobs in the rest of energy industry,” according to Jack Bingham, who as owner of the SEA Solar Store in Dover has seen his own small business grow from a one man operation to include himself and two employees.



A July 2011 study by the Brookings Institute confirms the “clean economy” employs some 2.7 million workers nationwide, including 12,886 jobs here in New Hampshire, while the fossil fuel industry employs around 2.4 million.



“It takes a lot more people to install solar panels on the roofs of homes,” Bingham said. “I don’t think any of these guys understand what small solar is or what the term ‘green jobs’ really means.”



“The local green businesses I work with on a daily basis are growing and experiencing success even in these tough economic times,” said Sarah Brown, director of the Portsmouth-based Green Alliance.



Since starting the Green Alliance in 2008, Brown has worked to connect eco-minded consumers with local businesses who provide sustainable products and services ranging from solar panels and wind turbines to cloth diapers.



“Speaking from my own business’s perspective, the Green Alliance has enjoyed tremendous growth over the past few years,” Brown said. “Our membership has grown to include over 2,800 consumers and close to 100 local green businesses, which tells me that people here in the New Hampshire understand the value of buying green and shopping local, both in terms of creating jobs and protecting the natural resources that drive our state’s thriving eco-tourism industry.”



Her own green company’s success has enabled Brown to hire on three full- and part-time employees.



“Our growth is largely due to the success of our local green business partners,” Brown emphasized.



Those Green Alliance businesses are also creating green jobs locally. For example, Little Green Homes in Greenland, which specializes in green building and design, recently doubled in size.



“We’ve grown from three to six employees in the last year,” co-owner Chris Redmond told the Green Alliance last fall. “People definitely seek us out because of the green element.”



“All told, the 98 green businesses who now form the Green Alliance currently employee nearly 2,000 people locally,” Brown said.



How many jobs have these local green businesses killed? “None!” Brown said.



As for President Barack Obama, he’s still championing the green jobs cause, albeit in a quieter fashion than he did in 2008.



“And we need growth that is sustainable,” Obama said during a visit to Australia in November. “This includes the clean energy that creates green jobs and climate change that cannot be denied.”



Learn more about the Green Alliance at www.greenalliance.biz. Find more quotes from the presidential candidates on clean energy and the environment at: newhampshireprimary.blogspot.com.