Evergreen Solar of Massashusetts, the nation's third-largest solar panel manufacturer, has announced that it will permanently close its facility in Devens, Mass. and 'downsize" 800 "green jobs."
The good news is twofold: Evergreen will continue to make high-quality, affordable solar panels, but will now make them in China where there are no restrictive taxation, zoning, labor, and environmental regulations; and secondly, Massachusetts taxpayers won't need to continue subsidizing the company's operations, toward which $43 million dollars has already been shoveled. Talk about your "shovel-ready jobs!" I suppose the additional 800 folks on unemployment compensation will be cheaper in the long run for the taxpayers.
I just love it when a government tries to fix a business.
As a side note, the solar walkway lights I bought in August for 8 bucks each now only glow for about 15 minutes, from sunset at 5:30 until almost 6pm. I guess all this global warming has drained the batteries. Or maybe it's that we don't get the same amount of direct sunlight as, say, Palm Springs or Phoenix in November through April. Anyway, these Westinghouse brand solar lamps are as useless as submarine screen doors. Save yourself a few bucks and get low-voltage real lamps. No matter what PGE charges, the plug-in lamps will be a bargain.
It all reminds me of Ronald Reagan, who said: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'"
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