Move that bus: Mack disputes job count

Does a hybrid bus driver hold a green job?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the job is in fact green — an assertion that inflames several members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers. In a bit that quickly went viral, Mack ripped into U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis at a Sept. 22 House oversight hearing.

The hearing had the somewhat loaded title of “How Obama's Green Energy is Killing Jobs.”

Mack and others on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee accused the Obama administration of inflating the number of green jobs with too broad a definition of what is green. One administration study pegs the number of clean-green jobs at 2.7 million.

The testy and interruption-filled dialogue between Mack and Solis, where each pointed their finger at the other, was over a bus driver Solis mentioned in her testimony. Here's an edited version of the exchange:

Mack: “How can you call this a green job? If I'm sitting in a chair that was made out of green material, does that make my job green? Driving a bus, just because it's hybrid, doesn't make it a green job.”

Solis: “Mr. Congressman, would you rather have that person unemployed?”

Mack: “No. I would rather him work. But I would rather not have you try to smooth this thing over and make it a green job when it's a job.”

Solis: “It's an industry that's green...the industry itself where he is employed is fuel-efficient.”

Mack: “Is his job green?”

Solis: “Yes it is.”

Mack: “It's only a green job if it fits into your sales pitch.”