Green Jobs Briefing Draws Huge Crowd on the Hill

On October 22, EESI and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy hosted Green Jobs: Re-energizing the American Economy in conjunction with the House Climate Change Caucus. With job creation currently a hot topic on Capitol Hill, the briefing attracted a standing-room-only crowd of 180 attendees.

Three green jobs reports were presented at the briefing, and the speakers explained that investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy can help solve two of our most pressing problems: the financial crisis and climate change. One report found that investing $100 billion into a green recovery program can create two million jobs in two years and lower unemployment by 4.4 to 5.7 percent. Renewable energy jobs are more labor-intensive than those in the fossil fuel industries, meaning more jobs are created by investing in renewable energy industries than in fossil fuel industries. The jobs created will also be higher paying jobs, multiplying the number of jobs that pay over $16 per hour by three.

Click here for more information from the briefing. Click here to see EESI's recently updated factsheet on green jobs.