( CNN ) -- Wednesday night in Denver , Mitt Romney tried to imply that President Barack Obama had given $ 90 billion in tax breaks to solar and wind companies . After first noting ( more accurately ) that $ 90 billion went to the `` green energy world , '' Romney followed up with `` do n't forget ... you put $ 90 billion -- like 50 years worth of breaks -- into solar and wind . '' Personally , I wish the president had . But it just is n't true . The actual number was more like $ 21 billion . I know , because I helped oversee the administration 's efforts in this area . The larger number refers to all of the investments in the 2009 stimulus package that the administration designated `` green '' in any way . The number included $ 6 billion for advanced batteries to make electric cars possible , $ 29 billion for energy efficiency and home retrofits , $ 3 billion for job training , and even $ 18 billion for transit and high speed rail . To pretend that all of that money went to solar and wind companies is ludicrous . Worse , Romney alleged that the administration picked only `` losers . '' False . First of all , many of these initiatives began under President George W. Bush , including some of the loan guarantee programs Romney likes to attack . With the exception of Solyndra , the track record for renewable energy investments is strong . In fact , the failure rate is lower than Congress anticipated when they created these programs -- and , while we 're on the topic , higher than Romney 's 80 % success rate at Bain Capital . CNN Fact Check : Are half of green energy firms funded by stimulus out of business ? The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that there are 3.1 million green jobs in the United States right now . This is a big success story for Obama . Today , there are 75,000 Americans employed in the wind energy business alone , compared with 81,000 coal miners . Today , the top three clean-tech states each employ more people in green jobs than the coal industry does nationwide . Romney is willing to jeopardize those jobs by arguing for killing the wind energy tax credit -- while refusing to end subsidies and supports for the fossil fuel industry . Opinion : Millenials to candidates : Talk to us . ( By the way : Coal employment is still high . Regulations that place more stringent public health standards on coal mining have actually created more jobs in coal mining industry , thanks to EPA . Even if the number of miners goes down at some point , I would blame dynamite , not government regulations . More and more , `` mountaintop removal '' is the standard practice for coal companies , and simply blowing up a mountain to scrape the coal out requires fewer workers . ) Romney is right that Obama has not been willing to open up some public lands for oil drilling and coal mining . That is a good thing . If it were left up to people like Romney , there might be oil rigs in places like the Grand Canyon . That approach not only desecrates our nation 's natural beauty , it is an unnecessary and excessive risk . The United States is on its way to being a net oil exporter , without jeopardizing the beauty and integrity of our public lands . Both conservatives and liberals should be happy with Obama 's energy policies . Oil , coal and natural gas production is up , which should please the right . But energy efficiency and conservation is also up , which should please the left . Romney -- like his running mate , Paul Ryan -- sounds great when he is spinning his yarns about America under Obama . But he knows precious little about the renewable energy industry and is relying on Tea Party talking points to score cheap points , at the expense of America 's clean energy entrepreneurs . There is an upside : This fall , both Ryan and Romney have already created a full employment program -- for fact checkers . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Van Jones .
Van Jones : Mitt Romney was wrong to imply adminsitration spent $ 90 billion on solar , wind . He says $ 21 billion spent on solar/wind , the rest on other green energy initiatives . Jones says Romney was wrong to say investments were failures ; success rate was high . He says it 's a good thing Obama is against drilling on some public lands .