Rusty Labour Market Economics
Once a long while ago I worked as a Labour Market Economy computer modeler. The pay was good and so were the free lunches. While I disdained actually learning economics I did pick up on some of the basics. First: There are three classes of employment - Employed, Unemployed, and Not in Workforce. People move between each possible state with relative ease.
Governments boost employment by moving people out of unemployment into employment, or shifting them out of Not In Workforce to one of the other two. Overall it doesn't cost Governments much as they already either pay unemployment benefit or numerous subsidies to Not In Workforce people ( pensioners, Mums etc). In fact boosting employment is a net benefit to Governments due to new tax income and less outgoings.
So first point is that there is a resilience in the Labour pool that can start working as required. This happened quite visibly in WWI and WWII when lots of women moved from Not In Workforce to employed at the local munitions factory or in land work.
The second effect in WWII was increase in productivity. People worked harder and longer for the same money. The was de-facto an increase in workforce. This latter effect goes some way to negating the broken window theories.
Now Al "Weatherman" Gore is saying that by going to alternative energy we boost employment. He also seems to be creating the atmosphere (no pun intended) of a war against climate change. It may well be he is right about the jobs. They will appear and the people to fill them will sprout like dragons teeth.
How to pay for these jobs? Obviously taxes like you would never believe on all 'traditional' energy sources (borrowing from overseas appears unlikely)
What is the likely effect of this? Simply look at any recent major wars. Governments will break-even or make a profit. Employment will be boosted (at the expense of unemployment and NIW). We personally will have less disposable income as we are paying for new jobs. After a while other jobs will cease to exist because we aren't buying the goods any more, prices will fall, recession will start and at the end of 5 years we will throw out the existing Government, stop the war and try and resume as normal.
-OR-
Someone could invent cheap ways to make energy so that it makes sense to buy cheap energy rather than expensive energy. Not by up-pricing existing energy but by make new cheap energy. Almost a win-win situation except for the inflationary effect of lots of spare cash not being spent on energy (you win some you lose some).
What Gore should really be doing is following my mantra
"I'm not Green I'm Cheap"
And making abundant low cost energy for the masses.