Unemployment Rates Could Fall, Says New Report

While on vacation, I missed my chance to blog about the nation’s newest report on green jobs right when it was released. However, the research brings to the table a batch of conclusions so important, that they are still newsy one week later.

The report, “Green Recovery – A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy,” is a continuation of the story that I began telling in the current issue of OnEarth magazine: that of green jobs, and how a movement toward a green economy, run on jobs that have a positive environmental impact, will not only offer workers employment, it will offer NEW, higher-paying jobs.

This green job discussion has long been absent of agreed upon definitions and solid numbers—until now. According to “Green Recovery,” a collaboration by the Department of Economics and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (NRDC did not undertake the research, but is part of the overall campaign the study was done for), if America invests $100 billion in clean energy over the next two years--the same amount as last spring’s economic stimulus package--the U.S. can create two million jobs. Suggested ways to invest this money include tax credits for businesses, homeowners, and renewable companies, as well as direct government spending, such as with building retrofits or mass transit. And as opposed to the previous report PERI released, this latest one breaks down the green job possibility in 34 states. With an almost $2 billion investment, Minnesota could see near 40,000 new jobs, dropping unemployment by 1.3 percent; a lesser investment in Alaska would do the same. The NRDC press release suggests "the program could be paid for with proceeds from auctions of carbon permits under a global warming cap-and-trade program."

The authors are so confident in their findings, they are calling a green jobs initiative a  “green economic recovery program,” able of lowering the nation’s unemployment rate, which currently stands at at 6.1 percent, the highest mark since 2003.

I have to say, from talking to experts and following this campaign, the idea of a green economy and the opportunities that come along with it don’t sound like politician pie-in-the-sky: a green economic revolution feels real—and historical. Check out more about green jobs, and then join in the conversation.

 [Photo: One day, this blue-collar worker could be fixing your green eco-car. Credit: diemieux, flickr.com]