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The Morning Briefing: Job creation in the energy sector

"The Morning Briefing" is SmartPlanet's daily roundup of must-read stories from the web. This morning, we're reading about job creation within the energy industry.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer

"The Morning Briefing" is SmartPlanet's daily roundup of must-read stories from the web. This morning, we're reading about job creation within the energy industry.

1.) Do ‘green energy’ policies thwart job growth? President Obama delayed the decision on construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, pleasing green activists. However, it did nothing for job creation in a debt-ridden economy. The author believes Obama's 'jobs-creation policy lacks direction and focus, based largely on blind faith in renewable energy sources and a childish trust in the good intentions of solar energy companies.'

2.) Oil and Gas jobs rocket under Obama's leadership. Approximately 75,000 jobs were created in these sectors under the Obama Administration between 2009 to 2011, according to analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is approximately 69,000 more jobs than the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would produce.

3.) Career opportunities for energy professionals in Europe. According to a global survey conducted by Rigzone, job market confidence is lower in Europe than in other regions across the globe. Forty-two percent of European-based energy professionals believe it would be easy to find a different position in 2012, compared to 36 percent who are not so optimistic.

4.) Oil boom creates engineer poaching. The shortage of specialty engineers has caused extreme company competition and staff poaching among oil companies. A premium is placed on industry veterans who work on wells that can cost tens of millions of dollars to drill, and graduates are signed up before finishing their studies. Professionals in their 30's or 40's are the most coveted.

5.) The green industry should be run on competition, not handouts. The author suggests that the green sector should be regulated by price and competition, rather than government subsidies. He states that no evidence exists to suggest that the government has better knowledge to make investment decisions or to commercialize technologies when the private sector chooses to bypass these opportunities, and that the green industry would expand more successfully without governmental tinkering.

Image credit: Flickr

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