Vehicle Emissions Standards Create Jobs, Report Finds (+ Top Transportation Stories)

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A new report, released yesterday, shows that clean car and truck research, development, and production are already creating 155,000 jobs in the United States, and they could create a ton more green jobs in the coming years with proper policies (and if Republican leaders in Congress stop trying to kill a good thing).

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is hosting an interactive map with current transportation facilities around the country (and these facilities are really around the country, with some located in nearly every state — 504 facilities, in total, in 43 states and D.C.).

A number of these jobs, of course, are in traditional manufacturing fields, and Michigan leads the pack in this arena. However, California has the 2nd-highest number of facilities and a lot of those are in Silicon Valley, where the need for cleaner vehicles and clean vehicle policies have spurred an investment frenzy. Obama’s recent announcement of a 54.5 mpg standard for cars and light trucks by 2025 will continue or even increase that trend (see below).

“In 2010, U.S. patents awarded for hybrid and electric vehicle technologies reached an all-time high, jumping 60 percent from the year before,” the report notes.

“General Motors, Toyota and Ford held the first, second, and third spots, respectively, for the most new patents in 2010. Largely due to the investments in the auto sector, Michigan is the home of the most U.S. clean energy patents granted from 2002 to 2010.”

150,000 More Green Jobs Possible with New Vehicle Standards

A previous study conducted by the UAW, NRDC, and Center for American Progress, “Driving Growth: How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs,” found that 150,000 more jobs could be created by 2021 with policies equal to those just enacted by Obama.

The bottom line is: cleantech standards like these clean vehicle standards mean more technology must be developed and created, and that means more jobs.

The new report was created by the NRDC, automotive workers union (UAW), and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). For more, check out one of these two NRDC’s pieces on it or the full report, “Supplying Ingenuity: U.S. Suppliers of Clean, Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Technologies.”

Here are some more top clean transport stories of the past week or so (other than the several we’ve covered):

Cars

  1. Video: Audi’s Two-Seat “Urban Concept” EV Caught Testing
  2. Bristol Cars Planning 200 MPH Plug-In Hybrid?
  3. 2015 Volt / Ampera to be Cheaper, More “Radical”
  4. Chinese EVs: Quite Dirty After All
  5. North Carolina Spawns Toyota Prius Hybrid Pickup
  6. Top 4 Peer-To-Peer Carsharing Services
  7. Putting Alternative Fuel Stations on the Map
  8. BMW’s new way to source hydrogen: Your trash
  9. Study finds electric vehicles “perfect for urban driving”
  10. Leading the Nation in Transition to Alternative Fuel Vehicles… The State of Virginia?
  11. The Nissan Leaf; Electric Car, Backup Home Power Generator
  12. Evatran’s Wireless EV Charging Hot Spot Boasts 97% Efficiency
  13. Toyota, Tesla to Build Electric SUVs in Canada

Bikes

  1. Bicycle Heaven(s), Bike-Sharing Saves Lives
  2. Road to Somewhere: ITDP and David Byrne on Tour for Bike Advocacy
  3. 88Bikes to Deliver 50 Bikes to Navajo Nation
  4. How do bicycles change cities?

Trains

  1. High-speed rail to get $336 million more from feds
Image via NRDC

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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

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