The U.S Commercial Office market is suffering unprecedented vacancy rates which are expected to hit 18.6% in 2010 – close to the historic high of 19.3% set in 1990. We are facing a “jobless recovery” as employers focus on workforce efficiencies and try to do more with less…or fewer. Arthur Jones, Senior Economist, CBRE Econometric Advisors Jones’ believes that the current decade will be the first during the post-World War II era in which there is net job-loss in the U.S. Ouch!
So how do we combat this decline? With government handouts like those seen in the auto industry with the advent of the “cash for clunkers” program? No…No… Please no…! These short-term, short-sighted fixes are going to extend the decline, not shorten it. We need to invest in the future and with passage of the “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act” we might see the kind of industrial investment not seen in fifty years.
We need to be proactive. China and India are among the many countries investing heavily in clean-energy technologies that will produce millions of jobs. Instead of rescuing old and dying industries with tax payer dollars here in the US, we need a longer term strategy that invests in new technologies and new business ideas that grow jobs from within. America needs a farm team for jobs and this Act is just the kind of impetus required to put one in place. Vote Yes with a letter to your representative.
The Green Building initiative alone is a terrific example of what this kind of legislation can do for a struggling economy. “McGraw-Hill Construction’s Green Outlook 2009 report “Trends Driving Change” shows that by 2013, the overall green building market (both residential and non-residential) is likely to more than double to $96 billion – $140 billion.” The USGBC guidelines are creating new demands for materials, new infrastructural changes that will lead to new jobs, new construction and a healthier real estate related environment. “The Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found in a September 2008 study that a national green economic recovery program investing $100 billion over 10 years in six infrastructure areas would create 2 million new jobs!” See, Green buildings Crease Green Jobs for a Green Economy. That’s good news for all.
