Green Jobs are Booming

The naysayers are wrong. Opponents to taking aggressive action against Global Warming have warned that it would be bad for the economy and cost people their jobs. However, several sources of research on this topic show that development of renewable energy actually creates jobs and is good for the economy.

Deep in the Heart of Texas
The report, Texas Renewable Energy Standard: Economic and Employment Benefits, states that by 2025, the 20 percent RPS would create 38,290 new jobs in manufacturing, construction, operation, maintenance, and other industries. In fact, the amount of renewable energy needed to meet the requirement would create 2.8 times more jobs than fossil fuels—a net increase of 24,650 jobs by 2025 (Figure ES2). These jobs would generate an additional $950 million in income and $440 million in gross state product for Texas’ economy.
Green energy initiatives by national Government, the European Union and big business will mean an estimated half million new jobs across Europe over the next 10 years. "A lot of people have developed skills in other fields. Renewables are an opportunity to apply those skills and feel they are doing something beneficial and worthwhile"

Green Jobs in Canada
Green jobs are also jobs which contribute to environmental protection, such as the manufacture and installation of pollution control equipment or recycling plants. These are known as environmental industries and they employ about 123,000 workers in Canada.
The job-creating potential of a sustainable economy is large: a Canadian estimate of the employment impact of effective measures to combat climate change indicates two million new jobs created over fifteen years. It has been calculated that it takes 100 workers in a nuclear plant or 116 workers in a coal-fired plant to generate 1,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. Yet, 248 would be employed in a solar thermal facility or 542 in a wind farm to generate the same amount of electricity.

Green Jobs are Booming in California
Generating electricity from renewable energy sources provides more jobs than traditional energy sources, according to both economic models and reallife experience. Much of the cost of electricity from natural gas power plants is from the ongoing purchase of fuel. A higher portion of the generating cost goes to labor for renewable energy than for traditional energy sources.
California could take advantage of the job benefits of renewable energy by initiating long-term contracts or requirements that utilities obtain electricity from renewable sources. With such market guarantees, renewable energy companies would build 5,900 MW of new facilities in California by 2010. Added to the current capacity of 3,163 MW of clean renewable energy, the state would then be able to generate at least 20% of its electricity from renewables.
• Building 5,900 MW of renewable energy capacity would lead to the equivalent of 28,000 year-long construction jobs and 3,000 permanent operations and maintenance jobs.
• Over thirty years of operation, these new plants would create 120,000 personyears of employment.
Wind power typically provides 70% more jobs than gas, and solar technologies provide twice as many jobs. Job creation from geothermal energy is 11 times higher than from natural gas. Landfill gas plants employ 14.7 times as many workers.
California is home to 46 renewable energy companies larger than 100 employees.
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