Guest post by Dr. Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, Assistant Professor of Latino and Mexican-American Politics at Northwestern University.

For many, the presidential elections of 2008 held promise beyond a catchy slogan of “Yes we can” (Si Se Puede). Minorities saw in Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States, a beacon of hope, a person who knew the firsthand economic and institutional challenges within minority communities. However, a focus on job creation for those most in need is not occurring. The Latino community has been especially hard hit in this recession with unemployment rates consistently above that of the national average.  Even in the midst of the immigration debate, jobs still remain the top concern for Latinos as shown in a recent AP-Univision poll.

Within the Latino community the unemployment rate has hit a record high of 13.2%.  But more concretely the strains are being felt in the recent state budget reductions that cut deep into programs designed to assist low income and minority communities. As a result, many California minorities are losing hope in the change they were promised.

The state of California is home to 36,961,664 people, 37% of which are Latino, that’s more than twice the national average of 15.8%. And with California’s unemployment rate at 12.4 percent, among the highest in the nation, the outlook appears especially grim for California’s Latino community, which generally faces higher unemployment rates. This group is being hit twice as hard by the recession and the president’s agenda that handicaps job creation within a sector that employs thousands of Latinos across the country, the oil and gas industry.

The president has justified his STEEP regulations on fossil fuels by stating they are necessary to transition to a clean energy economy. This view, however, is shortsighted. The U.S. is moving toward “green” goals and, one day, will provide wholly clean energy. But we are not there yet. California specifically has spear-headed initiatives to find alternative fuel sources, but the reality is these options are still a work in progress.

The driving goals of American energy policy are to provide environmentally safe energy while enhancing national security through a lessening reliance on foreign energy. We continue to work on these resources, but oil and gas are currently meeting our energy needs and will continue to be important in conjunction with renewables. Additionally, they ensure national security, offer millions of U.S. jobs, and provide access to affordable energy for Americans.

Following the 1970s energy crisis, the United States has been shifting the balance between renewable energy sources and fossil fuels. Energy tax expenditures on renewable fuels have recently overtaken tax expenditures on fossil fuels. Tax credits in 2009 reached $9 billion for renewables while fossil fuels received $2.6 billion, less than a third as much. A diminishing reliance on fossil fuels is ensured through government incentives, but most importantly through a growing social awareness of the importance of green energy.

In the midst of the deepest recession we have seen in 70 years, every effort should be made to balance environmental, security, and economic concerns. These goals are not mutually exclusive, however recent legislation and the 2011 proposed budget drives to make them so. For example, an amendment added earlier this month to the Senate’s ‘Small Business Jobs’ bill by Sen. Baucus repeals a tax credit currently available to all American manufacturers. What is even more serious is the push for dual capacity which guarantees double taxation of income for American oil and gas companies, contrary to the most basic principles of the U.S. income tax law. If passed, these provisions would have the perverse effect of cutting US jobs, increasing our energy prices, and providing foreign firms a competitive advantage. The dual capacity provisions will be incentives for foreign owned oil and gas companies such as BP and CNOOC, but will make American industries less competitive with their foreign counterparts.

Americans from all backgrounds and socioeconomic classes have had to tighten their belts. However, among the Latino community there aren’t too many notches left on the belt. An increase in a basic commodity such as energy coupled with rampant unemployment further strains an already strained community. Taxes on the energy industry signify job loss and higher prices for a community that is already hurting.

Simply put, how do you fill up your car at $6.92 a gallon when you have just lost your job?

Exploring new energy options while protecting our economy through the use of current resources are not at odds but complimentary.  Our administration must defend this balance that benefits all, but especially the economically disadvantaged.

In 2008, the Obama campaign put forth one of the most aggressive campaigns targeted at the Latino vote to date. Candidate Obama and now President Obama promised he would protect the jobs and interests of Latinos. He has the opportunity to do it and to demonstrate that jobs can be created – si se puede!

Related articles

• Hector E. Sanchez: The Latino Community’s Stake in a Clean Energy Economy (huffingtonpost.com)
• Green Jobs: a Powerful Engine for Employment for Workers at the Top, Bottom and in Between (alternet.org)
• Q. and A.: Hastening the Energy Revolution (green.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Obama exhorts Hispanic legislators for support in November (cnn.com)
• Beyond Fossil Fuels: As Europe Kicks Coal, Hungarian Town Suffers (nytimes.com)