Where the real jobs are

Santee Cooper and its allies creatively tout their coal plant as a jobs program, even resorting to using rediculously inflated jobs numbers. Of course, such a project will only employ 100 people or less long term. Given the price tag of the plant, that means were getting 1 job per $10,000,000 dollar investment. So much for fiscal responsibility....

Now, as for actual job creation, the notion of "green collar" jobs has been getting a lot of attention lately, both in the local and national press. Despite studies showing the massive potential for such employment in South Carolina, some remain skeptical.

Nevertheless, General Electric's plant in Greenville just announced that it will add 200 new engineering jobs this year (after adding 300 last year).

What does GE build at the Greenville plant? Wind and gas turbines. The former is, of course, greenhouse gas and pollution free renewable energy; the latter burns the cleanest fossil fuel we know, yielding substantial pollution reductions relative to coal.

I think we already have enough evidence to conclude that if its jobs we want (or reliable, cost effective energy for that matter), the Pee Dee plant will fail our state miserably.