Reports say green pojects could create 1.7m US jobs

Reports say green projects could create 1.7m US jobs(Via Cleantech Brief)Two reports released last week say measures to reduce carbon emissions,

improve energy efficiency, retrofit buildings and invest in renewable

energy could create 1.7 million new jobsin the United States.The reports, released simultaneously, are “Green Prosperity: How

Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the

United States,” produced by Green for All, the Natural Resources Defense

Council and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy

Research Institute (PERI) and “The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean

Energy: How the Economic Stimulus Program and New Legislation Can Boost

U.S. Economic Growth and Employment,” the work of PERI and the Center for

American Progress.The reports assume annual spending on cleantech and energy efficiency of

$150 billion (a figure that includes money from the U.S. government’s

stimulus package and spending proposed by the Waxman-Markey climate bill

now before Congress).“[I]nvesting in clean energy for $1 million will generate 16.7 jobs;

correspondingly, investing in fossil fuels generates about 5.3 jobs,” said

Robert Pollin, the co-director of PERI and the lead author of both studies,

at a press conference. “When you net the two things out, you’re going to

get about 12 incremental jobs per million in spending by investing in clean

energy.”This job creation could cut unemployment in the United States from 9.4% to

8.4%, say the reports. The job-growth estimates factor in job losses in the

fossil fuel industries as the economy shifts to renewable energy sources,

so represent net gains. In addition, they say, the jobs would be well-paid

and about 900,000 of the estimated 1.7 million created would be open to

workers with high school educations – or less.The reports outline three main areas of investment – retrofitting existing

buildings to make them more energy efficient (such projects account for 40%

of the $150 billion in funding), investing in public transport to reduce

the costs and carbon emissions of private travel and investing in

smart-grid technology to improve the efficiency of energy distribution.For the very latest green jobs across America and globally please click here