A new study released by the nonpartisan
Peterson Institute for International Economics projected that the American Power Act would generate an average of 203,000 new jobs annually above business-as-usual between 2011 and 2020.
The Peterson Institute study looked at possible impacts of the proposed legislation to the economy, employment, energy security, and the environment. Besides reducing U.S. GHG emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, the study projects that if passed, the bill would reduce U.S. imported oil purchases by $51-$93 billion annually.
Another supporter of climate change legislation has now stepped forward - the autoworkers. According to the Union of Auto Workers (UAW), cleaner cars and strong climate policy means more jobs for American autoworkers. The UAW recently released a report prepared in conjunction with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Center for American Progress called Driving Growth: How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs. "This study shows that increasing automotive fuel efficiency will create jobs," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. According to the study, cleaner cars and strong policy could create as many as 150,000 American jobs.
Late Saturday, SEIU Local 26 janitors announced victory in their contract negotiations, winning good, green full-time jobs with affordable health care for over 4,000 janitors in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. SEIU Local 26 was ready to strike as soon as today (Monday) if a contract agreement was not reached. See Saturday's announcement of the contract victory and SEIU Local 26 members' reactions:
The U.S. Department of Transportation's TIGER grants have just been announced. These are the last bit of federal stimulus funding for transportation--$1.5 billion for which there were over 1,400 applications, totaling nearly $60 billion. What's truly great about Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood's decisions is that most of the funding is being directed toward truly innovative, multi-modal projects that typically aren't prioritized highly. There are few traditional highway projects in the mix. Each state received funding for one project. Many are for rail (both freight and passenger) or transit projects, port improvements, bike/pedestrian accommodations, and even a wind power project were selected. Minnesota's award is $35 million to help renovations for St. Paul's Union Depot which will be the transportation hub for the east end of the Central Corridor light rail project, a relocated destination for local Amtrak passenger rail service, and a station for intercity and local bus connections.
Employed or not, jobs are on all of our minds these days. The word pops up everywhere, especially in conversations about clean energy and climate policy. But what would a climate policy actually do for American jobs? A recent update by Economics for Equity and the Environment (E3) might shed some light on the subject. The Climate Policy and Jobs: An Update on What Economists Know report highlights two main findings based on the knowledge of five leading economists. The bottom line: climate policy keeps and creates jobs.
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner came to Minnesota to check out our clean energy economy. He toured Honeywell's Golden Valley facility to see how manufacturing for energy efficiency and clean energy creates jobs and stimulates the economy. Later, he participated in a roundtable discussion where he highlighted the need for the federal government to develop policies that will spark increased clean energy jobs and economic development in the states, something we're already benefiting from in Minnesota. He also announced $5 billion in clean energy manufacturing tax credits in addition to the $100 billion clean energy stimulus dollars.
Read more about his visit in the Star Tribune.
In today's hearing in the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works, John Doerr, partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins, gave stunning public testimony. According to Fast Company, John Doerr "is, by all accounts, the most influential venture capitalist of his generation."
Doerr spoke passionately about U.S. competitiveness while moving to a new clean energy economy. He brings clarity to the question of the future of the U.S. economy, unlike most of the blogosphere baloney that we cannot reduce global warming emissions because we cannot afford it and the risk is too great to the economy.
Posted by: J. Drake Hamilton in Renewable Energy Standard, policy, legislation, global warming, federal issues, economy, economic development, carbon regulation, cap and auction, ACES on
Jun 23, 2009
June 23, 2009
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the millions of members and volunteers that our organizations represent, we write to urge you to support final passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES).
We also urge you to do everything possible to strengthen the bill between now and final passage, and along its journey to the President's desk.
ACES will help build America's clean energy economy and launch the United States' first national plan of action to address the growing threat of climate change. ACES offers our country the most important opportunity in generations to jumpstart our economy, create millions of new, well-paying jobs, and set the stage for America to compete and prosper in a 21st century economy.
Posted by: J. Drake Hamilton in Renewable Energy Standard, policy, legislation, green economy, global warming, federal issues, economy, economic development, carbon regulation, ACES on
Jun 23, 2009
Today, President Barack Obama highlighted the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act bill moving in the House of Representatives, saying it will "spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution that threatens our planet."
As a Minnesotan, I was pleased that the president praised the great efforts of leaders on the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as Representative Collin Peterson, chair of the Agriculture Committee, for his "many and ongoing contributions" in developing this legislation.
At a news conference broadcast today from the White House, the president called passing this clean energy and climate legislation critical: "The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy."
On a remote location of 2.4 million acres in north central South Dakota, wind is the focus of the tribal government and the 8,000 members living on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation.
Fresh Energy Blog