New report outlines how clean energy can generate jobs in the U.S.

Clean energy can play an important role in job creation, says Blue Green Alliance, a national partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. The organization has put together a report outlining policies for market building, market reforms, financing, innovation and capacity building to create clean energy jobs. The report was developed using research compiled by the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP).

According to the report, renewable energy technologies provide three to six times as many jobs as equivalent investments in fossil fuels when manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance jobs are taken into account.

The analysis builds on a report earlier this year by BGA and the Renewable Energy Policy Project that estimated more than 850,000 manufacturing jobs could be created across the United States, and more than 42,000 existing manufacturers could experience growth based on a demand for parts, with the enactment of a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) of 25 percent by 2025.

“Our climate change policies must include measures to strengthen the market for clean energy technologies,” said Robert Gramlich of the American Wind Energy Association. “Central to our strategy to both create jobs and reduce carbon emissions is developing and producing clean energy technologies in the United States, and a strong, federal RES will help us to do that.”

Technorati Tags: Climate change, Energy, Fossil fuel, Green energy, Greenhouse gas, Renewable energy, United States

Tagged as: Climate change, Energy, Fossil fuel, Green energy, Greenhouse gas, Renewable energy, United States