| By Clem Guttata
We're a little over a month away from an election year. All three Congressional Representatives from West Virginia are up for re-election. In state house races, all of the House of Delegates are up for election as are half of the State Senate. Also, there's more than a few politicians already positioning themselves for a future move... be it a run for Governor or U.S. Senate in 2012.
Unemployment in West Virginia has just about doubled in the 12 months. It's now at levels we haven't seen in 15 years. Even the most optimistic forecasts say this "jobless recovery" has another year of high unemployment ahead.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
In this economic environment, politicians should focus on one issue: jobs, jobs, and jobs.
Health care reform is good for jobs in the long term--when the public option kicks in we will now longer have to worry about whether our employers offers health insurance or not--we can start our own business, change jobs, and go back to school without worries of being able to find health care coverage. But, that's not enough to reduce unemployment today.
Addressing climate change is good for jobs--investments in cleaner energy, investments in conservation and efficiency, these all create jobs. But--and this is a big BUT--these jobs will only appear in West Virginia once political and civic leaders make a strong effort to attract them here.
A Winning Record
If you're running for office next year, the very best record you could run on is bringing new green jobs to your constituents. There's a lot of skepticism right now that West Virginia is going to successfully make the transition to a new energy economy.
Local, state, and federal government spend a lot of money in West Virginia. Putting some of this money towards energy efficiency and conservation improvements in the extensive government real estate holdings would create new green jobs.
I bet a lot of voters would respond better to positive solutions instead of scare-mongering about the potential for continued job losses due to circumstances beyond our control. |
