Environmental Law

Fighting Climate Change Could Boost Jobs, Say Enviros, Unions

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

With much of the debate over efforts to control climate change focusing on potential economic impacts, environmental and labor organizations Tuesday floated a new report that they portrayed as boosting the notion that green, particularly green energy, is good for workers.

Lots of trades that already exist could benefit from a shift to cleaner energy sources, according to those promoting the assessment, "Job Opportunities for the Green Economy: A State-By-State Picture of Occupations that Gain from Green Investments." Prepared by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, the document explicitly did not attempt to estimate how much growth was likely. However, it identified a number of skills, from metalworking to carpentry and truck driving, that might feel the positive effects through the development of wind, solar and other alternative forms of energy:

"What is clear from this report is that millions of U.S. workers—across a wide range of familiar occupations, states, and income and skill levels—will all benefit from the project of defeating global warming and transforming the United States into a green economy."  

Meanwhile, there were some other indications of support for the renewable energy industry.

One was the announcement this week from the U.S. Department of Energy that the government had entered into an understanding with six of the world's top wind turbine manufacturers to promote research and development and take other steps to boost wind power. The effort was linked to the department's goal that wind supply 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030, a subject on which Climate Law Update has reported previously.

And, there was word in California of a major development regarding a groundbreaking new solar thermal project.

All this comes at a time when Congress is trying to figure out just what to do, if anything, about trying to control greenhouse gas emissions linked by scientists to climate change. Both sides in the debate over the principle bill now under discussion, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, have made it clear that the economy will be central to their positions.  The bill would establish a cap-and-trade market system for curtailing emissions. 

The Bush administration, in a formal outline of its opposition to the bill that included a veto threat, said the measure would  "squeeze household income, cost many jobs, [and] reduce growth in the economy" if it were to pass. Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and who is a key backer of the legislation, also focused on the economy in remarks earlier this week touting the measure's benefits:

"We are leading with that notion that this bill in fact would lead us to a strong economy with the creation of millions of new jobs, new technologies and a way forward for our nation that is going to put us back, I think, into international leadership on the environment and the economy." 

The U-Mass report, which focused on a dozen states, looked at various occupations that could reap the green energy bounty. Sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers could find jobs in connection with the construction of wind farms, while electrical engineers, welders and metal fabricators could find employment in building solar facilities, according to the document, which was commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Advantages to agriculture workers and carpenters were also seen in efforts devoted to developing cellulosic biofuels and retrofitting buildings.

As demand for the jobs increase, wages could also go up, the report concluded. Benefits like that for workers in those occupations right now were on the minds of some of the supporters of the study, such as Dan Lashof, director of the NRDC's climate programs and Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers. In a statement announcing the report, Gerard said: 

"The commitment to a clean energy economy will not only lead to quality jobs in manufacturing unions and the building trades. It will help stop good-paying jobs from continuing to be exported."

The energy department announcement said a memorandum of understanding had been reached with GE Energy, Siemens Power Generation, Vestas Wind Systems, Clipper Turbine Works, Suzlon Energy and Gamesa Corporation. Several of those companies were recently identified by the energy department as among the biggest turbine manufacturers for the United States market.

In its statement the department said the companies would collaborate to gather and exchange information toward meeting the 20 percent goal. The agency said areas covered by the agreement include research and development on turbine reliability and operability; siting strategies; standards development for turbine certification; manufacturing advances in design and developing the workforce required.

Coincidentally, the report surfaced just as Southern California Edison Company announced it had signed a new contract for 245 megawatts of solar power. Edison's statement said its deal with Pasadena's eSolar (which also issued its own statement) represented the nation’s first commercial effort using power tower solar thermal technology. The technology employs mirrors that reflect light to boil water for steam generation. 

(Pictured: Early version of heliostat, or mirror, array for solar power tower; U.S. Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Credit: Dave Parsons)

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on June 03, 2008 (boomark / email).