At a time when we need all the jobs and productivity we can I came across this story in the WSJ. Apparently, this administration has decided that saving the environment is more important than Americans keeping their jobs. I have argued on this board several times about the importance of recreating our manufacturing sector because It provides good paying jobs for less skilled workers. Its better for the economy to actually produce tangible goods than to max out credit cards buying crap made in China.

It seems that the cabal running Washington doesn't agree..



Employment, Environment at Odds
U.S. Agency Won't Back Sale of Coal Equipment; Company Says That Costs Jobs.

For the second time in recent weeks, the Obama administration's environmental policies have clashed with its efforts to boost American jobs.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal body charged with promoting U.S. exports with loan guarantees, decided against backing a sale of coal-mining equipment to an Indian company. The guarantees were denied amid the agency's concerns about the mine's environmental impact.

Bucyrus International Inc. said it was likely to lose orders totaling as much as $600 million for mining machinery from a subsidiary of Reliance Power Ltd. of India because of a decision by the Ex-Im Bank against providing loan guarantees to help finance the purchase. The orders were contingent on obtaining the guarantees, which would cut the cost of financing for Reliance, part of a conglomerate headed by Anil Ambani.

A person familiar with the situation in India said Reliance has chosen not to purchase the mining equipment from Bucyrus because of the bank's decision.

The bank's chairman cited Obama administration policy against backing projects with heavy carbon emissions.

The decision means "throwing 1,000 jobs in the ditch," Tim Sullivan, chief executive officer of the South Milwaukee, Wis., maker of mining equipment, said in an interview. Bucyrus cited an estimate that the order would create or protect 984 jobs in 13 U.S. states.

Last month, the Obama administration angered many people in Louisiana by imposing a six-month ban on deep-water oil drilling in the wake of the BP PLC oil spill. That ban could cost thousands of highly paid Gulf energy jobs, Louisiana officials have said. A U.S. District Court last week overturned the ban, but the government is appealing. The administration argues that "green" energy technology will prove a big generator of jobs.

Political leaders in Wisconsin hope to use a planned visit by President Barack Obama to the state Wednesday to plead for a reversal of the Ex-Im Bank decision. Mr. Obama is due to speak at a town-hall meeting on the economy in Racine, Wis.

The board of the Ex-Im Bank voted 2-1 Thursday against supporting the project. The bank is required to consider the environmental effects of projects it backs, a bank official said. The mining equipment would be used for a coal mine that is to supply a power plant under construction at Sasan in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Mr. Sullivan said Reliance could turn to rival suppliers in countries such as China and Belarus.

Thebank board split along party lines. Two Democratic members—Fred Hochberg, chairman, and Diane Farrell—voted against supporting the project, while Republican Bijan Kian, voted in favor.

Mr. Hochberg said: "President Obama has made clear this administration's commitment to transition away from high-carbon investments and toward a cleaner energy future." He said he voted against the guarantees, which would lower the cost of financing for Reliance, because of the "projected adverse environmental impact."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704846004575332810145193160.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_6

Ummmm ... and why are we surprised to read this 'news' ... ? It's all very predictable ... he's tearing down the thing he hates ... US. He said during the campaign that companies could 'try to build new coal plants, but if they do, we'll just bankrupt 'em with the taxes.' This should come as no surprise to anyone ...

It is not a surprise to me. It's just another example of how patently stupid the left wing ideology is.

They stand up in front of the cameras and talk about how they are for the "small" people and when the "small" people turn around they hit them in the back of the head with a 2x4.

It is a perverse display.. and what is worse is that even after getting hit in the back of the head, people will still defend it.

The feseral government is the absolute best bs'r in the world.

Just means its time to go walk about, hunt and fish for a living.......turn our enjoyments into our jobs......wow, why is that sounding more and more amazing by the second? I say let em and then we can shake our dependence of corpoartions and government idiots like....ahhh well u know...

whats more important? i kinda like going to the beach that still has some (wild) life left on it. if we start killing off entire species, we are killing off ourselves. my sympathy goes out to all the fisherman and such that can't earn a living right now, but we kill off everything in the water and beaches, they won't have a job anyway... if theres no food, because then we die too. i'm kinda glad that there are environmentalist that go the extra mile to that wildlife is being preserved. You also have to remember that everything your reading has other reasons that are not listed. maybe the bank declined the loan for other reasons than it stated, like maybe the company has credit issues, or whatever. your just reading what someone told someone else to print, may or may not have any truth to it.

Mr. Hochberg said: "President Obama has made clear this administration's commitment to transition away from high-carbon investments and toward a cleaner energy future." He said he voted against the guarantees, which would lower the cost of financing for Reliance, because of the "projected adverse environmental impact."

I think it is pretty clear why they voted no.

I live on a coastal bay. I am all for clean water and having a pristine habitat for coastal animals.

However, I do not believe in man made global warming nor do I believe in a government policy that has set out to destroy our manufacturing sector based on 150 years of mostly bogus data.

The earth has been around for 4 billion years. No one can dispute that natural changes occur to the weather patterns. Ice ages.. warming periods have occurred before man and they were far worse than anything experienced in these 150 years of data.

So for some arrogant jackass to say that we are not going to loan money to keep Americans employed because we want to invest in a nonexistent industry is totally unacceptable.

i agree with you, but what are we to do? i'm sure that theres other reasons why they don't loan out the money, but they won't tell us the truth.

The sole purpose of the import export bank is to loan money to help our companies export their products. If there is another reason then they ought to come clean because the reason given so far is asinine.