Crossposted from the Green Jobs Now blog

Our new video challenges Newt Gingrich’s 2 cent “solution”, and presents the Green Jobs Now alternative: lower gas and energy prices, more American jobs, and a healthier planet.

“Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” is a cute slogan, but it’s based on lies. The polluters are using high gas prices to trick people into letting them drill more, burn more and profit more. But we know that throwing away the beauty of our coastlines for drilling won’t affect gas prices for 20 years. And 20 years from now? Offshore drilling is projected to only lower the price of fuel a measly 1.3 percent. That’s like paying $10.98 a gallon for gas in 2025, instead of $11.00.

Compare that to our plan: increasing the supply of clean energy through wind and solar, and decreasing the demand for dirty energy by using plug-in hybrid cars in a clean energy grid. Remember Economics 101? The law of supply and demand dictates that increasing supply and decreasing demand will bring prices down. And you don’t need to buy a hybrid to reap the benefits: fewer people guzzling gas overall will give even the Hummer drivers lower prices at the pump.

The same is true not only for cars, but for homes. If we weatherize or put solar panels on a million homes, overall demand will decrease, lowering prices even for those who make no home improvements.

Finally, building a clean energy infrastructure in this country is gonna take work. We can create millions of good jobs, putting this country back to work in green collar jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. A new report by the Political Economy Research Institute shows that green investment will lead to 2 million jobs in the next 2 years.

The next President and Congress will have to make a choice between Newt’s lies, and investing in a new green economy, strong enough to Repower America and lift millions of people out of poverty.
This Saturday, September 27th, show them whose side you are on?

Posted in Climate Justice, Dirty Energy, global warming