Climate Policy and Jobs
Climate Policy and Jobs
Politics and Society, University of Southern California
New greenhouse gas emissions policies at the federal level could generate as many as 2.5 million new jobs and $134 billion in economic activity in the United States, while keeping energy costs down, finds a new report from the Center for Climate Strategies, published jointly with Johns Hopkins University and co-written by Adam Rose of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
The study analyzed the macroeconomic effects of greenhouse gas policies adopted by 16 states in recent years.
Rose says that the anticipated economic boost of a national climate policy comes down to cost-saving. âThrough our analysis of the actions of several states, it is clear that there are many greenhouse gas mitigation options that can reduce the price of goods and services,â he explains. âThese relative gains will increase in the future as conventional fossil fuel prices increase and energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies become even cheaper.
âMoreover, there is a stimulus from increased investment in these technologies,â Rose says. âTo be fair, we also factored in the output and job losses in conventional energy industries and their supply chain, so our results do in fact stem from a comprehensive analysis that yields a net improvement.â
The work is based on existing climate plans in 16 states: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont and Washington. These states used consistent, transparent and formal procedures to develop and quantify measures, and followed standard, well accepted methodological guidelines.
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