Editorial: Green Jobs: More Delusion and Dishonesty

In 2008, independent economists hired by the California Air Resources Board to review its plans to implement AB 32, the state’s landmark anti-global warming law, warned officials against presenting the measure as a broad boon to the state economy. Forcing California to use a higher percentage of cleaner but costlier fuels by 2020 was likely to hurt industries that competed with states and nations with lower energy costs, especially manufacturers. The most renowned of the economists, Harvard’s Robert Stavins, offered the sharpest critique and warned the air board that it risked discrediting itself if it didn’t acknowledge the law’s downside.