Obama Teaches Bush How to Create Jobs, Creates More in 2010 than Bush Did in 8 Years

January 12th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

You may have heard the news by now (it’s pretty big news) — new info out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 1.1 million jobs were created in 2010 under the Obama administration and a Democratic (though, severely obstructed) Congress. That’s more than the 1 million jobs the Bush administration created in total in the whole 8 years it was in charge of the U.S.

In December, the U.S. economy saw an increase of 113,000 private sector jobs, which resulted in the unemployment rate dropping from 9.8% to 9.4%, the steepest drop in one month since 1998 (when Clinton was president).

Who is all the time claiming that Democratic policies are job killers? Republicans, of course. But what to the statistics show?

I think even more significant than 2010 job growth, however, is the chart above as a whole, showing, very clearly, the job creation or job loss trend of the past few years, under Bush and then under Obama. It doesn’t take a genius to identify which administration was killing the economy and which is helping it.

How Do Clean Energy and Environmental Policies Influence the Economy?

Counter to what many Republican politicians will have you believe, clean energy and environmental policies are job creators, not job killers.

As we’ve reported numerous times here on Cleantechnica, clean energy investment creates many more jobs [pdf] than dirty energy investment. Studies have found that “the solar industry creates 5.65 jobs per million dollars in investment, the wind energy industry 5.7 jobs, and the coal industry only 3.96″ and “wind and solar energy generate 40 percent more jobs per dollar invested.”

I’ve also covered the fact that environmental regulations create jobs and benefit the economy, and not only in the long term. Yes, EPA regulations that Republicans consistently claim will hurt the economy actually help it.

Concerning transportation, investment in high-speed rail is projected to generate billions and billions of dollars in economic growth and create hundreds of thousands of jobs according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Additionally, I recently covered over on our sister sites Ecolocalizer and Planetsave, respectively, the news that bicycling is a significant boon to the economy and that twice as many jobs are created for every dollar spent on bicycle or pedestrian projects than for every dollar spent on road projects.

The economy may be a complex thing, but clear ways to improve it have been identified. Of course, clear ways to improve the business and increase the staggering wealth of the richest of the rich, including those at the head of the fossil fuel industry, have been identified, too. And with a political system that gives more power to the rich, our politicians (many of them, than is) have a ‘hard time’ doing what is right instead of what keeps them in office.

Related Story: Clean Power = More Jobs

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: bicycles, bicycling, bike, bikes, Bush, clean power, environmental regulations, job creation, job loss, Obama, US

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

http://twitter.com/RexScientiarum Eccentric scientist

Yeah… this news/blog is getting increasingly political. I like Obama and all (er… maybe ‘I don’t dislike him as much as a lot of other politicians’ is more appropriate) but this ‘Fox New is is the anti-Christ and Obama is the second coming’ vibe is getting a little out of hand.

Though personally I agree with you in many cases (although I tend to be a bit more realistic) and realize that energy policy is part of what this website covers, I don’t really think most people appreciate the ‘shove it down your throats’ rhetoric. We already have TreeHugger for that kind of Peta-esque BS.

Even us liberal green nuts that have wet dreams about solar panels are getting a bit tired of this sort of political tone, and how this sort of slimy feeling undercurrent pervades green industry. I initially was drawn to this site because it had a lot of technical information and up-to-date news and didn’t have all the hippie marketing nonsense that is rife in TreeHugger.

I have no problems talking about green policy per se, but then can we please about THE POLICY and not make it about glorifying a particular politician, party, or interest group.

I don’t mean to offend Zachary Shahan or anyone with Clean Technia but I am critiquing here. I mean otherwise I can just get my news from some other source.
- Anonymous
  
  Hmm, I’ve been on here for 2 and a half years now and I would say we cover politics, and in that way in particular, less than ever.
  
  But the bottom line is, there is one political party that is gung ho on stopping clean energy from moving forward. And this is HUGE to hundreds of thousands of clean energy employees and thousands of jobs, not to mention all those who want to see clean energy move forward and get at least equal treatment by Congress.
  
  I am extremely critical of Obama on a number of fronts, but when it comes to clean energy and energy effic., he’s on a diff planet from Congressional Republicans (as are most Dems).
  
  Policy is more than a little important to clean energy industries. AWEA and SEIA are focusing almost all their time and resources these days on getting at-risk policies extended that too many Republican members of Congress want to stop. Policies that are clearly good for our economy, public health, and the environment.
  
  The politicians and billionaires behind them need to be called out. Anyone who cares about this topic needs to know why the U.S. is lagging Europe and China on clean energy. This is a topic of most global conferences and discussions on energy matters.
  
  I would probably be the happiest person here if we didn’t have to cover the
  politics of energy any more, believe me.
  
  And, yes, there are tons of sites that cover cleantech — however, not many
  (or any) of the serious ones ignore this political problem.
  - http://twitter.com/RexScientiarum Eccentric scientist
    
    You are right, but I still think there are better ways to approach this. I am just so bitter about the state of things right now. Especially tonight after the whole Plan B fiasco. Still, I think this kind of rhetoric is sort of preaching to the choir.
    
    To be totally honest I agree as a biologist and conservationist that basically the Republicans are the bane of the Earth. I hate the ‘fake’ bleeding heart liberal crap too but the Republicans are a bunch of oil and coal prospectors that will butt fuck the Earth to oblivion.
    
    It’s just that somebody NEEDS to stop this vilification of the red-neck Republican voter base/
    
    I mean you can scream at them and try and tell them they are delusional sheeple that are getting screwed over by Republicans selling them fake massages about saving their freedoms from ‘police state regulations, because nobody should be able to tell you not to slaughter endangered species’ when really they are just getting rid of the laws that protect these damn rednecks so the politicians can come in with their oil companies and claim eminent domain and take away their farms to drill for oil.
    
    The thing is if all you do tell them ‘they are wrong’, that ‘your guy’ is neoJesus, and they are evil for their stupid delusional beliefs they are just going to resist that much more. Instead of ostracizing all Republicans and their voter base right off the bat and expecting that to bring about consensus (which is asinine), why not try to ease them into ‘ a green way of thinking and living’ by talking strait policy and numbers. The fact that Obama or his administration put some policy into place is irrelevant to how effective that policy is. By attaching a name to a policy that automatically alienates a group right off the bat, whether that is fair or not, that is how people tend to react.
    
    Anyway, I also got Clean Technia confused with Energy now, which is totally different (although you often feature Energy now stuff) and a little less politically charged, so my politically neutral green news source appears to be safe for now.
    - Anonymous
      
      Yeah, i understand your concerns.
      
      There are clearly 2 (or many more approaches).
g…

Wow Zachary! You must be a political science / economics major.

Seriously, if you want this site to have any credibility at all, you would be best off not to make yourself look like a total tool with blog posts like this unless you are trying to target your readership base to people who live in a cave.

One commenter here alluded to public jobs vs private and you shrug it off as the person who has the job doesn’t care. No shit sherlock. What he’s implying is Bush sustained the economy with private job growth and did so without the trillions of dollars in stimulus money.

Fact remains Obama is buying jobs and that my friend is not sustainable. So in reality, he is not good for the environment.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  g…, you make a lot of claims here with nothing to back them up. the things is, those opposed to the current administration are going to complain about there being no jobs, and then when it creates jobs (more than Bush’s did in 8 years), they’re going to complain that the govt put money in to create those jobs (even ignoring the fact that it put money into the industries that would create the most jobs per dollar). it’s called: “no matter what you do, you can’t win.”
  
  yes, there will always be people who claim the govt should spend money on anything (until they personally need help). but there are others who are going to appreciate what the govt does for the country it serves
  - g…
    
    Making claims without backing them up? Dude, it’s common knowledge! I’m not one of the cave dwellers.
    It’s a fact Bush targeted private sector jobs (and grew that sector) and Obama targeted public sector jobs (and grew that sector) with yours, mine and the rest of the people who comment here’s tax dollars. When the money dries up, the jobs are gone. I’m a project manager for a construction company so I know first hand about the stimulus money. I have profited from it. And I can also say it’s drying up (along with the profits).
    
    FYI, I do enjoy reading your blog on a regular basis so keep up the articles. I just think you are stepping a little outside of your comprehension of the political picture with posts like this.
    - http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
      
      g…, thanks. regarding the comment above, though, note that the topic i am reporting on covers *private sector jobs*
Get A. Clue

Interesting that the data begins at the onset of the great recession and if you think that was all due to the then current sitting president you need to get a clue. Similarly if you think the bear market rally that began in March 2009 and associated economic “recovery” was brought about by the grace of our current messiah, your delusional. Will you be posting this chart again next year, once stocks, commodities, housing, and the overall economy have resumed their deterioration? Who will you blame then? Obviously it would not be our president’s doing but perhaps the evil conservatives who took control of congress. Your logic is flawed in so many ways, the best advice I can give you is read a few books on Austrian econcomics.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  Thanks, Get A. Clue: 100% lucky coincidence then, eh? i’m sure Obama’s ARRA had nothing to do with it
Nathan B. Lively

The statistics you are talking about don’t include the total amount of people without a job. The reason that the unemployment percentage dropped so drastically in December was because most of the people no longer included in the unemployed category were people that had run the course and were dropped from unemployment benefits roll. Thus, causing a drop in percentage points. More people are now considered permanently unemployable. More than was ever under the Bush administration.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  proof, Nathan? i have seen nothing saying that elsewhere, even in conservative coverage of the news
  - http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
    
    furthermore, we’re talking about *jobs created* here, not only the unemployment rate. or did you not notice?
Name (required)

LOL! Yea, right. Perfect example of “statistics” giving a wrong impression. How did the unemployment rate stay down around 5% then with Bush?? The Dems have had congress since 2006 which happens to coincide with most of the bad numbers of Bush’s 8 years in office.

I wonder how much money these private sector jobs that Obama has “created” cost per job?? Gee!! If it’s not cost effective it shouldn’t be done. The end does not justify the means! (We’re so broke already and “they” won’t stop spending money!!)
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  Tell to someone without a job that it’s more worth the government’s money to keep you on unemployment than generate jobs for you — & i’m sure Republicans won’t mind supporting the unemployed indefinitely. Furthermore, as we’ve covered many times on here, the technologies the Obama administration has focused on create many more jobs per $ invested than the technologies Republicans have focused on. And, yes, the return on investment is good.
http://www.earthclub.us Scott P

When are so called wanna be journalists going to stop being idiots and get the facts straight! Let’s be serious, Obama had nothing to do with these job increases. The green/cleantech movement had everything to do with it. Try listing what Obama did to push the agenda forward then maybe I will listen.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  Scott P: as Susan, and the Wall Street Journal, noted in Dec 2009, a ton: http://cleantechnica.com/2009/12/03/energy-push-rivals-manhattan-project-says-wsj/ of course, the administration has done a ton more since then. are you a Cleantechnica reader? (surely, you would have noticed by now)
Pingback: New Google Earth Map Lets Homeowners Predict Solar Power – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views