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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories ACCESS drive fights hunger, creates hope Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Prayers for snow in year's second Mount Ashland blessing Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Education Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Ashland High School: Students get schooled in interviewing The future of SOU's McNeal Pavilion doesn't include a pool AuCoin named to SOU Board of Trustees Environment Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas Navickas ordered to pay court filing fees Business Ride & Drive: 2015 Honda CR-V Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank Find your holiday spirit in Ashland’s Season of Celebration Oregon gained 9,900 jobs in October Politics and elections Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls Oregon voters narrowly reject GMO labeling measure Kitzhaber wins fourth term Merkley wins re-election by wide margin State News Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Obituaries Death Notices Death Notices Robert E. Johnson Death Notices In Loving Memory of Sports Latest Stories Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout SOU men, women win Empire Classic openers SOU cross country teams aim to make splash at nationals High school Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Grizzlies roughed up at Silverton Upset-minded Grizzlies brace for undefeated Foxes Georgia Williams commits to Columbia Gabe Lehrburger, Grizzlies clean house in MWL all-star voting Southern Oregon University Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout SOU men, women win Empire Classic openers SOU cross country teams aim to make splash at nationals Opinion Latest Stories Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Frank Mulligan: They say fame is fleeting Granlund cartoon: Buffalo snow Kent Bush: Obama challenges GOP on immigration Editorial Our view: Keep it simple in OSF courtyard Our view: Expanding the season Our View: Our view: Generating a good idea Our View: Looking beyond the snow Letters Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 15 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 11 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 10 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 3 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Guest Opinion: Save the SOU swimming pool Chris Honoré: Was the midterm election a mandate? Herb Rothschild: TPP agreement draws opposition from all sides Guest Opinion: A meaningful step toward political bipartisanship Revels Latest Stories Community blog: Oregon Poetry Association's fall contest winners Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Nov. 20-28 Caleb Klauder Band and The Steel Wheels play the Unitarian Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Theater New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Bass Clarinet Takeover Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Movie review: ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ stays true to form Interview: Jennifer Aniston continues to shed good-girl image Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Interview: Steve Carell gets grim Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Chef count up at feast for the senses Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories It Is What It Is: Thanksgiving is wherever your heart is Ride & Drive: 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Kitchen Call: Both sides of the kiddie table Jeff Vrabel: Ms. Pac-Man makes Chuck E. Cheese more bearable Go Ask Alice: Black Friday shopping? It never dawned on me Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW ACCESS drive fights hunger, creates hope ... Ashland Calendar ... AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank ... ACCESS drive fights hunger, creates hope ... Ashland Calendar ... AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: A meaningful step toward political bipartisanship By Richard P.F. Holt DailyTidings.com By Richard P.F. Holt Posted Nov. 11, 2014 @ 12:01 am By Richard P.F. Holt Posted Nov. 11, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a bipartisan politician, created a phrase we can hope our newly elected Oregonian politicians remember, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinions but not to his own facts.” What he meant is that we should not let political ideology or special interest groups stand in the way of objectivity for good governance. If there is to be a new wave of bipartisanship in Salem and Washington there needs to be a shift from “double-talk” to legislation that takes a pragmatic approach to problem solving, which is evidence-based rather than ideologically based. A key test to watch to see if we passed this threshold, particularly with Congressman Greg Walden, will be climate change. A majority of climate scientists believe that our environment faces a severe threat if we do not control the changing climatic conditions that result from the emissions of greenhouses gases. Each new estimate from the scientific community is more pessimistic than the first. Of course, the majority of scientists could be wrong. But their warnings are serious enough that it makes common sense for us to act to control greenhouse gas emissions as opposed to playing a game of Russian roulette. One of the arguments given against restructuring the energy infrastructure to address climate change is that it will take away American jobs. However, the “facts” do not support such a claim, and the argument has mostly been pushed by the fossil fuel industry to serve their own self-interest. The reality is that spending toward a clean energy investment program will have a larger positive impact on jobs than the same amount of spending in the fossil fuel industry. If we look at the total number of jobs created by direct, indirect and induced effects from six clean energy investment areas that include building retrofits, transportation, upgrades of the electric grid, solar power, wind power and biomass fuels, the estimated number of jobs created for every million dollars spent is 16.7. By contrast, the estimated number of jobs created for every million dollars spent in the fossil fuel industry is 5.3. The upshot is that spending the same amount of money on clean energy investments generates three times the number of jobs within the United States as does spending the same amount in the fossil fuel industry. Why is this the case? The first factor is the relative labor intensity of the two industries. A clean energy program uses more of its investment budget on hiring people as compared to the fossil industry, which spends more on supplies, land and machines. The second factor is the domestic content. The clean energy program relies more on products made within the U.S. economy. It’s estimated that 97 percent of total spending for clean energy investments will be for American products. The estimate for the oil industry is 83 percent for domestic goods and 17 percent for imports. Finally, pay levels: Besides creating more jobs in all pay levels, clean energy investments produce far more jobs per dollar of expenditure. This is because the average pay for these jobs is less than the average for fossil fuel jobs. The stubbornness in our unemployment numbers is with low- and middle-paying jobs, which would benefit from the type of work created by clean energy investments. Besides creating more jobs, the transition from fossil fuel to a clean energy economy would cut our greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030, the amount the science community believes we should be shooting for. This would require private and public investments of around $110 billion per year — $90 billion for efficiency and $20 billion for renewables (To put this number in perspective, energy companies in 2012 spend more than a trillion dollars on capital expenditures). A shift in investments from fossil fuels to clean energy would have a net employment effect of creating an extra 1.2 million jobs annually. What we should expect in a dynamic market economy are transitions in labor markets. Transitions are not easy for they affect livelihoods, careers and are usually held back by powerful special interest groups. And this is the case we see today with the fossil fuel industry — one of the most powerful interest groups in the world. However, we have an opportunity to have a win-win outcome where by taking an important step to deal with a possible environmental catastrophe, we create millions of new jobs to boot. Time for bipartisanship and looking at the facts? Richard P.F. Holt is an award-winning author and professor of economics at Southern Oregon University.   By Richard P.F. Holt DailyTidings.com By Richard P.F. Holt Posted Nov. 11, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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