+330,000 Jobs in 2 Decades from Energy Efficiency
September 21st, 2011 by Zachary Shahan
Export dollars per job in the clean economy are almost double those in the broader economy. Median wages are nearly 20% higher.
Energy efficiency saves us bucket-loads of cash, but it also creates jobs for our fellow Americans (and the money they make goes back into our economy).
James Dixon, chairman of the National Association of Energy Service Companies, recently pointed out on Politico that, since 1990, the energy efficiency industry has added 330,000 jobs (I imagine some of you have such jobs). Here’s more:
Recent news reports might have you believe the rise of the clean energy economy is a myth. Not true. Just look at energy efficiency’s economic impact.Since 1990, the energy service industry has provided $50 billion in energy savings, $25 billion in public infrastructure improvements and created roughly 330,000 jobs.
Energy efficiency is an economic winner. This is not wishful thinking – it’s based on actual market experience.
’nuff said.
But, hey, Dr. Joe Romm of Climate Progress, where I stumbled across this, has more on the job creation and economic benefits we could see from a strong energy efficiency effort:
Climate Progress has long argued that “Energy Efficiency Must Have a Starring Role in Putting America Back to Work.” If we retrofitted just 40% of the nation’s residential and commercial building stock, we would mobilize a massive amount of domestic labor, more than half a million (625,000) sustained full-time jobs over a decade. This would generate as much as $64 billion per year in cost savings.
Seriously, why do Tea Partiers push against this? (Other than the fact that their bosses are in the dirty energy industry and benefit from our waste and pollution.)
Image & Caption via Climate Progress
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About the Author
Zachary Shahan is the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular cleantech-focused website in the world, and Planetsave, a world-leading green and science news site. He has been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and he has been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, and wind energy since 2009. Aside from his work on CleanTechnica and Planetsave, he's the founder and director of Solar Love, EV Obsession, and Bikocity. To connect with Zach on some of your favorite social networks, go to ZacharyShahan.com and click on the relevant buttons.
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