Group says energy standard will bring 850,000 jobs

By Bowdeya Tweh, Times of Northwest Indiana
bowdeya.tweh@nwi.com

A group of unions and environmental organizations estimates more than 850,000 manufacturing jobs at firms currently operating in America could be created with the enactment of a national Renewable Energy Standard.

In a study released Monday, the Blue Green Alliance pledged its support for legislation requiring 25 percent of the nation's electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2025 to help combat the downturn in domestic manufacturing and reduce carbon emissions. Current versions of climate change legislation in Congress call for standards below the 25 percent requirement, a standard that President Barack Obama supports.

"The past failure of the federal government to adopt long-term regulatory policies like the RES and programs that encourage domestic manufacturing of new renewable energy technologies has allowed Europe, Japan, China and other countries that do have such policies to capture the lion's share of manufacturing jobs," said David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance.

The study, citing data from previous research, estimates 39,221 jobs will be created in Indiana and 56,579 jobs will be created in Illinois, assuming 18,500 megawatts of electricity will be generated from wind, solar, geothermal and biomass sources under the 2025 standard.

Indiana and Illinois are ranked among the top 10 states with the highest potential for renewable manufacturing jobs. Illinois ranks second to California for the top five states with the highest potential for wind manufacturing.

The Blue Green Alliance is an advocacy partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations to expand jobs in the green economy. The alliance, formed in 2006, is composed of organizations including the United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club, and the Communication Workers of America.