Posted by: Michael Noble in Renewable Energy Standard, policy, legislation, green jobs, green economy, global warming, federal issues, energy independence, coal, climate bill, CLEAR Act on
Jul 22, 2010
President Obama and the U.S. Senate have failed. They promised legislation to transform our energy system, create jobs and reduce pollution and today Senate Majority Leader Reid gave up.
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:
Earlier this month, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released the findings of a report they commissioned on the job impacts of a federal renewable electricity standard (RES). The "Jobs Impact of a National Renewable Electricity Standard" study, conducted by independent, third-party researchers at Navigant Consulting, Inc., found that a 25 percent by 2025 national RES would result in 274,000 more renewable energy jobs over business as usual.
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.
A new report finds that Twin Cities building owners could save up to $10 million a year by implementing day shift cleaning. The report, "Clean Sweep: How a New Approach to Cleaning Buildings in the Twin Cities Can Protect Our Health and the Environment While Securing Jobs and Saving Money," was released today by the Blue Green Alliance and SEIU Local 26. It finds that a day shift cleaning transition could save 4-8 percent in office building energy costs, and adopting green cleaning practices--which encourages the use of less toxic cleaning products--would protect the health of janitorial and office workers in commercial office buildings.
Here at Fresh Energy, we're often writing about the new clean energy economy. But how often do you actually see the thousands of Minnesota union workers in clean energy jobs? Now's your chance. The Blue Green Alliance is organizing the Green Jobs Photo Project, with a gallery opening on Thursday, January 14, 6-8PM at Common Roots Café in Minneapolis, and you're invited!
Thinking about the clean energy economy usually evokes images of constructing wind turbines, weatherizing homes, and installing solar panels on rooftops. However, Service Employees International Union Local 26, based in St. Paul, seeks to include janitors among those workers whose jobs contribute to the green economy while sustaining families.
Fresh Energy Blog