Clean Energy Jobs Created Would More Than Offset Loss of Fossil Fuel Jobs by 2050
By Naveena Sadasivam for InsideClimate News
A new report finds that switching heavily to wind, solar and other sources for generating electricity could create an additional 1 million jobs by 2030 and 2 million by 2050.
The report, by the Virginia-based consulting firm ICF International, found that a large-scale shift to renewable sources for generating electricity could increase U.S. employment by 1 million jobs by 2030 and 2 million by 2050, even after accounting for job losses related to fossil fuels. The transition would also provide between $300 and $650 in additional disposable income per household annually in 2050, the report found.
The findings undermine one of the main fossil fuel industry objections to cracking down on carbon pollution: that it would cost too many jobs and cripple the U.S. economy.
Many More Jobs Created From a Clean Energy Transformation Than Would be Lost
A majority of the 2 million new jobs would be in the construction, utility and manufacturing industries, according to the analysis. The utility business will see the biggest increase in jobs because a shift to cleaner energy sources will mean an increased reliance on the electric transmission grid. As households shift from gas water heaters to electric heaters and as more electric vehicles hit the road, there will be a higher demand for electricity, the report predicts.
“While the study does paint an overall rosy picture it also shows that there would be some losses in the fossil fuel sector compared to business-as-usual,” said Bansari Saha, Ph.D., the author of the report and a senior manager at ICF. “But on the whole we’re better off. There’s always a concern that we can’t actually shift to clean energy without hurting the economy. But it does look like you can under the scenarios modeled here, and you can do it with an overall benefit to the economy.”
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