Predictably, the Chamber of Commerce misses the point entirely with their new website:

One of the promises in the development and deployment of new energy technologies is the creation of “green jobs,” and it is a promise we embrace. But the sad fact is all to often these “green jobs” run afoul of “green tape.” Even more unfortunate is that many of the same groups who are thinking globally are often acting locally to stop the projects that would create jobs and reduce CO2 emissions. These “Not In My Back Yard” folks, or NIMBYs as they are called, block energy projects by organizing local opposition, changing zoning laws, opposing permits, filing lawsuits, and bleeding projects dry of their financing. And far from just blocking modern coal plants; the truth is that they really don’t want a wind farm or any other energy source either.

Misguided press release below the fold.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 16, 2009

Contact: Eric Wohlschlegel 202-463-5682

U.S. Chamber Highlights Obstacles to ‘Green Projects’

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Leading up to Earth Day and coinciding with the EPA’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today highlighted a new effort to expose the vast number of U.S. energy projects that have been delayed or stopped due to permitting and sitting hurdles, opposition by local and professional activist groups, and other “green” tape. The Chamber’s Project No Project effort features a Web site that details a state-by-state analysis of key energy infrastructure projects that are being thwarted at a time when our economy needs them most.

“We must acknowledge and remove the barriers standing in the way of these green projects,” said William Kovacs, the U.S. Chamber’s vice president of Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs. “We cannot mandate excessive reductions in greenhouse gases, fuel our future, and apply green technologies if we don’t address the green tape, excessive permitting requirements, and activist opposition.”

Project No Project features an interactive Web site that tells the story of the thousands of new energy projects that are being unnecessarily held up—and the resulting negative impact on jobs, infrastructure, and economic growth. To generate awareness of the Project No Project effort with government leaders, the Chamber will run paid advertisements inside the Beltway, promote the site through social networking, and will tap its vast grassroots network to urge action.

“By far the largest hurdle to developing energy in this country—of any kind—is the ludicrous amount of time it takes to obtain permits and related approvals for a new project,” Kovacs said. “When you factor in NIMBYs, the problem becomes insurmountable. Lawsuits drag on, zoning laws are changed, financing dries up, and ultimately projects stop. All of this is killing jobs and threatening our economic recovery.”

Project No Project highlights Cape Wind, the nation’s first proposed offshore wind farm planned for Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts, as one project that can’t get off the ground because of opposition by activist groups. At peak generation, Cape Wind would generate 420 megawatts of renewable electricity—enough to meet the needs of 420,000 homes. Other examples include a biomass power plant in Tallahassee, Florida, that would create 200 local construction jobs and a waste-to-ethanol plant in San Pierre, Indiana, that has the potential to produce 27 million gallons of ethanol per year.

To see where and how our nation’s energy projects have been delayed or stopped,

visit www.projectnoproject.com. Users can contribute their own stories to the