"Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy" describes a green recovery program that could lay the foundation for sustainable economic growth while boosting the country's energy security. The program calls for $100 billion worth of tax credits, government spending and federal loan guarantees to cut unemployment and spur growth in six cleantech and efficiency areas.
"We can be certain that the green recovery program will serve as a strong counter-force against pressures that are currently pushing unemployment up as well as more broadly increasing economic disparities," the report said. "The green infrastructure investments proposed here will also generate significant long-term advances toward creating the clean energy economy we need."
The program targets building retrofits, expansion of mass transit and freight rail, wind and solar power, biofuels and constructing a smart electrical grid.
The package would break down into three investment streams: $50 billion in tax credits to give private businesses and property owners access to building retrofits and renewable energy systems; $46 billion in direct government spending on mass transit expansion, smart electrical grid and public building retrofits; and $4 billion in federal loan guarantees to help finance renewable energy and building retrofits.
Spending the money in these areas would create four times as many jobs as investing an equal amount in the oil industry, and triple the number of jobs paying more than $16 an hour, the report found. It also would lower the unemployment rate from 5.7 percent to 4.4 percent and offset the 800,000 jobs lost in the construction sector.
Some jobs would be found in specialized areas, such as installing solar panels, but most would include existing jobs already being performed throughout the U.S. For instance, investment in wind power generation could create jobs for environmental engineers, iron and steel workers, truck drivers and machinists. Growth in second-generation biofuels may drive demand for chemists, agricultural supervisors and blending machine operators.
The report suggests raising the money by auctioning carbon permits in a national greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program.
Researchers from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst prepared the report on behalf of the Center for American Progress.
Indiana's Unemployment Fund....
Unemployed people are about to get more money due to the economic stimulus package. They'll be able to collect for a longer period of time. Benefits for them will be paid for a maximum of 59 weeks. The federal stimulus package is paying for the increases. It also contains money to help the state with the $400 million it has borrowed to make up a shortage in Indiana's Unemployment Fund. Indiana unemployment has taken a hard hit, as Indiana unemployment funds have run out. The funds for Indiana's unemployment are about to hit zero, and payday loans aren't going to be enough to stave it off. The economic stimulus package was supposed to extend the aid for people that are currently looking for work, but this provision has likely made the ills of Indiana worse, as lawmakers are frantically trying to find a solution to their unemployment insolvency. Tennessee and West Virginia are attempting to increase revenue, as they will face shortfalls within a year without intervention. They fear the fate of running dry like Indiana unemployment funding.
An improvement over current govt. investments...
What of the report's claim that the U.S. unemployment rate would be reduced? Does this not indicate more jobs/less joblessness? I don't believe this was a politically motivated study and see no embedded conspiracies.
But since we're speaking of politicians pulling the wool over our eyes, are we to believe that investing that $100B in the oil industry, the military, or "national security," is somehow a better use of the money?
Surely the investment would, in addition to combating unemployment, create better jobs, a better economy, and a better future. It is only one piece of the puzzle, but a necessary piece. I would recommend "Break Through: From "The Death of Environmentalism" to the Politics of Possibility," by Nordhaus & Shellenberger for further insight and inspiration.
Link
Just go to the Institute website to get the .pdf.
As usually, the "job creation" is a lie. Sure, spending $100 billion on ANYTHING will create jobs. But taxing or borrowing that $100 billion will destroy about the same number of jobs. The authors even admit as much in the annex of their report. All these "stimulus plans" are essentially zero-sum games. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, it makes little sense to yap about all the jobs that will be created by Paul's spending without noting that Peter's spending was reduced by the same amount. Yet politicians pull this wool over our eyes time and time again. Don't fall for it.
Can anyone access the link?
I'm getting an "Access Denied" message, even when I'm logged in...
The smart track
Absolutely.
There is no question now of the future direction of how we live and do business. The world will do so with a greater respect and awareness for how it effects and maintains a stasis of global health. Accepting such a truth leaves one with only two options: We will continue to count on other nations to produce products for us, thereby selling short our vast amount intellectual capital and adding to a trade deficit. Or we will be one of the first countries to complete a paradigm shift instead of being one of the last. We will reclaim our position as capitol of innovation and quality, being the example that we should be in the global landscape. An environmental industry base is the way.