Renewable energy works for the economy

 

Renewable energy is good for the economy.  It is a domestic source of energy, so it reduces imports of fossil fuels, it keeps American dollars in America, and it creates jobs here at home.

 

How many jobs?  Estimates vary, but two recent studies of a 25% Renewable Electricity Standard conclude that it could create between 300,000 and 850,000 new jobs.  Other studies looking beyond renewable energy find the potential for up to 3 million "green collar" jobs.

 

Some studies go into detail about what kinds of jobs and where.  For example, building a wind turbine is very much like building a tractor or a truck.  There are 8000 parts in a wind turbine, things like ball bearings, copper wire, and electronic controls.  These components are made by traditional small manufacturing companies, like Cardinal Fastener in Cleveland, that have been losing jobs to foreign markets. By supplying emerging high-tech industries, like renewable energy, we have a chance to re-industrialize America, creating new jobs.

 

 

 

 

Reports

 

BlueGreen Alliance, United Steelworkers, American Wind Energy Association, Winds of Change: A Manufacturing Blueprint for the Wind Industry

"A new report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), BlueGreen Alliance and the United Steelworkers shows that the U.S. wind industry can create tens of thousands of additional jobs manufacturing wind turbines and components if the U.S. passes long-term policies that create a stable market for the domestic wind energy supply chain."

 

Union of Concerned Scientists, Burning Coal, Burning Cash, May, 2010

States can use a renewable energy standard to reduce dependence on coal imports and create more robust economies

 

Governors' Wind Energy Coalition, Great Expectations: U.S. Wind Energy Development, March, 2010

Twenty nine U.S. Governors recommend that the U.S. federal government implement a nationwide Renewable Energy Standard to spur wind development.

 

Navigant Consulting, Inc., Jobs Impact of a National Renewable Electricity Standard, February, 2010.

Study shows "a 25% by 2025 national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) would result in hundreds of thousands of new American jobs and prevent a near-term collapse in some industries."

 

Emerging Energy Research, Global Offshore Wind Energy Markets and Strategies: 2009-2020, December 2009.

Report "predicts that the $10 billion offshore wind energy market will surge to $30 billion over the next decade."

 

Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Seizing the Solar Solution: Combating Climate Change through Accelerated Deployment, December 2009.

Solar energy could create 882,000 new jobs in the U.S. by 2020.

 

Clean Edge, Clean Tech Job Trends 2009, October 2009

"General unemployment may be on the rise, but the clean-tech sector should be a bright spot for job seekers, according to a report released Thursday by Clean Edge research."

 

Blue Green Alliance, How to Revitalize America's Middle Class with the Clean Energy Economy, June 2009.

More than 850,000 manufacturing jobs at firms already in existence across all 50 states could be created with the enactment of a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) of 25 percent by 2025, according to a report issued by the Blue Green Alliance.

 

Pew Charitable Trusts, The Clean Energy Economy:  Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America, June 2009

This report shows that despite a lack of sustained policy attention and investment, the emerging clean energy economy has grown considerably—extending to all 50 states, engaging a wide variety of workers and generating new industries. Between 1998 and 2007, its jobs grew at a faster rate than overall jobs

 

U.S. Department of Energy, Animated Map of Installed Wind Capacity Between 1999 and 2009, May 2009.

An animated map showing the installed wind capacity in each state by MW. The animation starts with a map of the installed wind capacity of each state in 1999, and then continues with equivalent maps all the way up to 2009, illustrating the economic growth in the wind industry over the past 10 years.

 

Union of Concerned Scientists, Clean Energy, Green Jobs, March 2009.

This report finds that a 25 percent national RES would create 297,000 new jobs; stimulate $263.4 billion in new capital investment; provide $13.5 billion in income to farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners; and increase local tax revenues by $11.5 billion.

 

Navigant study for the Solar Energy Industries Association, September 2008.

This study shows that more than 1.2 million employment opportunities, including 440,000 permanent jobs, and $232 billion in investment would be supported in the U.S. by the solar energy sector alone through 2016 if Congress extends the solar investment tax credit (ITC) for 8 years. 

 

Apollo Alliance, Make It In America: The Apollo Green Manufacturing Action Plan,  March 2009.

A roadmap for revitalizing America’s manufacturing sector through federal investment in the domestic manufacture of clean energy equipment and components, and in making manufacturing plants more energy efficient overall.

 

Blue Green Alliance, The Road to Energy Independence, 2007.

Using data from the Renewable Energy Policy Project, this report documents the potential for a national RES to create thousands of jobs making parts for wind turbines, solar panels, and other clean energy technologies in 19 states.