Green Jobs: A Foundation for the New American Economy?

On January 28, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing to discuss the opportunities for green jobs in the United States and the policies needed to support them. Amidst the growing global recession, debate among American policymakers is centering on the need to create well-paying, secure jobs and stimulate the national economy. At the same time, there is a call to reduce our dependence on foreign energy and our climate change-inducing greenhouse gas emissions. The renewable energy and energy efficiency industries can meet these needs, if bolstered by federal policy that accounts for these positive externalities and levels the playing field with long-established energy industries.

This briefing focused on a recently released green jobs report by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and Management Information Services, Inc (MISI). The report provides a sector-by-sector analysis of opportunities in the rapidly changing renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) industries as well as a case study of the development of the RE industry in Colorado. A key finding of this report is that the RE and EE industries provide more than 9 million jobs and more than $1 trillion in revenue in the United States (as of 2007) and could generate another 37 million jobs by 2030. Speakers also discussed policy options such as a national renewable portfolio standard, long-term extension of the production tax credit, effective net metering policies, and policies that improve access to electric transmission infrastructure, and their potential impact on the development of a green-collar workforce. Furthermore, the panel explored the success of Germany’s renewable sector – a global leader which already generates $240 billion in annual revenue, employs 250,000 people, and is expected to provide more jobs than the country's auto industry by 2020.

• The way to a green economy and lower carbon emissions has one simple answer: develop the renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) industries.
• The economic impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency is enormous. In 2007, the RE and EE industries supported over 9 million jobs and $1,045 billion in U.S. revenue.
• The report provided three forecasts — base case, moderate case, and advanced case — for the future of the RE and EE industries. In the advanced case, which would "push the envelope" of developing technologies and include aggressive policy initiatives at both the federal and state level, the green economy would support 37 million jobs and $4,294 billion in revenue by 2030. The base case, which represents the business as usual scenario, would include only 16 million jobs and less than $2,000 billion in revenue by 2030.
• Time is of the essence, stressed Brad Collins. We have already lost valuable time, and the longer we delay the more difficult it will be to achieve the gains projected for 2030.
• There are three keys to compete in the new energy economy: a ready market, welcome environment, and executive leadership. In terms of policy, a ready market needs robust incentive programs including tax incentives, tax credits, smart grid and green transmission initiatives, federal renewable energy standard (RES), and upstream cap and auction for carbon emissions. A welcome environment relies on long-term RE and EE tax credits, loans and grants for workforce development, and smart metering. The authors of the report call for greater federal leadership in aggressively promoting RE and EE friendly policies. The state highlighted in the report's case study — Colorado — possessed these three key components.
• RE and EE industries create skilled, well-paying jobs not subject to foreign outsourcing. Transitioning to the green economy would require little training for workers, and RE and EE occupations often pay higher wages than other sectors.
• Germany, a nation that currently generates 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources, adopted an aggressive integrated climate change and energy policy and has seen economic growth increase while greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by over 21 percent compared to 1990 levels.
• Germany's renewable industry owes much of its success to the Renewable Energy Sources Act initially passed in 2000. The Act established incentives for long-term investment, efficiency standards, fixed pricing per Kilowatt hour produced from RE sources for 20 years, and feed-in tariffs that help level the playing field among energy sources and guarantee grid access for renewable sources.