A September 2008 report from the Political Economy Research Institute (University of Massachusetts) lays out the case for a rapid green economic recovery program. The report estimates that a two-year government investment of $100 billion in green buildup would create 2 million jobs -- four times as many jobs as investing the same amount in the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than similar government spending (such as tax rebates) directed at increasing household consumption. Nearly half the new jobs would be in construction and manufacturing. The unemployment rates used in the report are from July 2008 and obsolete now, but the general conclusions are still important.
The initial version of the House stimulus bill appears to have about $54 billion allocated for renewable energy and overall energy efficiencies, and the list matches several of the key investment areas assumed in the above study. This does look like a decent down payment on a much-needed investment. There is uncertainty in all such estimates, to be sure, but if the green stimulus can come close to creating jobs at a cost of $50K per job while building a launch pad for the next crucial steps in green buildup, then it is an absolute win-win. Why didn't we just do this years ago and why aren't we investing more today?
Comments