Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico delivered her first State of the State address on Tuesday, and although she did not specifically mention manufacturing, she had a lot to say about improving the state’s business climate.  It’s not necessarily a popular political move to talk about global competition, but it’s a necessary topic for state leaders to tackle.

From the speech:

We must recognize that in a global economy, businesses will choose to locate and expand in areas that encourage – not impede – job growth. When a company is deciding whether it will operate in Albuquerque or Denver… in Roswell or Midland… in Farmington or Laramie, the deciding factor often comes down to the state’s tax structure and regulatory policies….

If our state is going to compete, if we’re going to ensure our children can find a goodpaying job close to home when they graduate, then New Mexico must become more business-friendly.

Less than two weeks ago, I announced that Union Pacific Railroad will move its hub from El Paso, Texas to Santa Teresa, New Mexico. More than 3,000 jobs will be created for the construction with 600 permanent jobs. To close the deal, we must put New Mexico on even footing with Texas and eliminate the tax on locomotive fuel. (continue reading…)

The Philadelphia Inquirer today publishes a column by Jay Timmons, executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, and David N. Taylor, executive director of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, “Millions of jobs would vanish with energy bill“:

This Labor Day, America is in its 20th month of recession, making this the longest and deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. More than six million jobs have been lost across the country, and manufacturing has suffered disproportionately, accounting for 1.8 million of those lost jobs.

So it’s difficult to understand how our federal lawmakers could seriously consider legislation that would depress economic growth and job creation for the next 20 years. But that’s what we can expect from the far-reaching climate-change legislation headed for a vote in the Senate when Congress returns from its summer recess.

Germany’s government has its own climate advisor, which in U.S. terms would make Hans Joachim Schellnhuber a climate czar, although there the title would probably be the catchier Klima Kaiser. In a Der Spiegel interview he lays out an explicit scheme of wealth redistribution, leveling economic productivity to a Third World niveau. After all, he argues, “Why should a German be allowed to emit more CO2 into the atmosphere than someone from Bangladesh? No, we must divide the quota equally and fairly among all nations.”

An expensive scheme…

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So industrialized nations would have to pay massive sums of money?

Schellnhuber: Yes. Up to €100 billion ($142 billion) annually. If the richest sixth of the world’s population were to pay this amount, each person would have to pay €100 per year. The West would give back part of the wealth it has taken from the South in the past centuries and be indebted to countries that are now amongst the poorest in the world. It would, however, have to be ensured that the poorer nations use the money for the proposes it is intended — namely to help them to develop a greener economy. This would help them to adapt to the more eco-conscious world of the future and would also save the industrialized nations from running into even bigger problems.

So the road to Copenhagen runs through Dhaka.  Wunderbar.