Economic Stimulus

by Lutz Weischer, WRI

Recently there have been some questions in the media (see Green Inc. and Washington Post articles) and in the U.S. Senate about stimulus grants for wind energy projects going to foreign countries. On March 3rd, a group of Senators called for the suspension of the renewables grant program until “Buy American” rules had been passed that made sure projects used American components and labor.

But there is more to that story than meets the eye.

Empirical evidence demonstrates that predictable support for wind power improves local manufacturing capacity and creates local jobs. Consistent support in the form of the stimulus and long term programs such as a Renewable Energy Standard will give investors the certainty they need to plan and create jobs in the United States.

As the renewable energy sector scrambles to sort out its share of the economic stimulus package, many voices within the wind and solar sector are pointing out a problem: The booming industry faces a startling lack of skilled professionals.

The stimulus bill's injection of about $50 billion for clean energy projects is certain to create tens of thousands of green jobs. But much of the clean energy field is still new and developing, and poor federal funding in education has left many colleges without the resources to develop innovative technical curricula. Only a handful of specialized programs currently exist on college campuses in fewer than two dozen states.

The question college administrators and industry officials are asking now is: Who will train the next generation for the new green economy?

By Mindy S. Lubber and Kevin Parker

As Congress nears final approval of an economic stimulus package, it should be clear on one point: Major investors want a bold, green plan that will spark clean energy investment and allow America to shape its financial and energy future.

The bottom line is that emerging clean-tech industries such as renewable energy and energy efficiency need the support of economic stimulus and other long-term government policies to thrive in the low-carbon global economy evolving in response to man-made climate change.

Investors need the reassurance that strong market signals from Congress will provide.

A green economic recovery package from Congress will allow America to shape its financial and energy future.

By investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy and a modernized electric grid, we can assert America’s leadership in the emerging clean tech global economy — and create millions of new jobs.

Other countries are already in the starting block of this great green race that will bring enormous financial reward to its winners. Asia and Europe are home to the world’s largest solar and wind turbine manufacturers. Japan’s per capita consumption of energy is nearly half that of the United States. President Barack Obama sees this, noting shortly before he was inaugurated that other countries “are surging ahead of us, poised to take the lead in these new industries.”

Strong green financial incentives in the recovery plan can put Americans back to work, provide a foundation for a new, clean economy, decrease our country’s dependence on foreign energy sources, and help defuse the worst impacts of climate change.

On Dec. 18, the world’s best hope for an ambitious global agreement that can successfully rein in greenhouse gas emissions will either succeed or fizzle in Copenhagen. Much of the outcome will depend on what President Obama and his administration do in the 320 days between now and then.

In an article posted today at Yale Environment 360, Michael Northrop, director of sustainable development grantmaking at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and SolveClimate founder David Sassoon spell out the steps that Obama must take now and why 2009 is the do-or-die year for comprehensive federal climate action.

The president’s mission will fail unless he carries with him a year’s worth of demonstrated results to lend weight and credibility to the promise he made in his inaugural address to “roll back the specter of a warming planet.” In Copenhagen, his inspiring oratory alone will not be sufficient; he must demonstrate how science has been restored “to its rightful place” in America in strong climate regulation and law.

The economic stimulus package is a start, with its commitment to green jobs, clean energy, and energy efficiency, but it is only a start. The EPA must put the Clean Air Act to use in fighting any further spread of greenhouse-gas pumping coal plants. Perhaps most important, the United States needs a science-based energy and climate plan that sets a price on carbon emissions.

Part III of a three-part series

In the next week or two, we will hear some very good news about the economy. Congress will pass a massive stimulus package that includes many investments that we should have made a long time ago.

Of most concern to many readers of this blog will be a rapid and unprecedented investment in a new energy economy that features greater efficiency, lower emissions and the spark to ignite a boom in renewable energy development.

If it takes a village to fix the economy – and it does – it took a crisis to unleash these investments. If the stimulus package works, it will be as though a capital dam has burst for states, localities, science labs, families, construction workers and many others.

Before it’s too late, we should make sure the gush of money results in the mix of short and long-term investments that the Obama administration intends.

The key question is whether the recipients of the funds have the capacity to manage the flow.

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Part II of a three-part series

The best part of the economic stimulus package moving through Congress is that it calls for a significant down payment on a new energy economy. One of its weaknesses is that it doesn’t give the American people a clear, exciting vision for what that new economy can do.

The stimulus package is clear on goals. The bill passed by the House last night talks about developing clean energy, transforming the economy with science and technology, modernizing roads, lowering health care costs, helping workers and investing in education.

But are those goals descriptive enough to show how the new energy economy will improve the fabric of our lives or how the benefits to our children are worth the mortgage we’re taking out on the future? I don’t think so.

The stimulus needs compelling themes that make clear how tomorrow will be better than today and how every American can answer President Obama’s challenge that we all do our part.

Here are some suggestions:

Part I of a three-part series

Congress is expected to approve to a massive economic stimulus package in the next couple of weeks. But before it does, there’s important work to be done on the color and content of the package.

Lawmakers should address three questions:

• Is the package green enough?
• Is it visionary enough?
• Can the beneficiaries handle the money?

I’ll offer some thoughts on each of these questions in a three-part post, starting here with the green issue.

First, it’s important to understand that the Obama White House has the fundamentals right: The stimulus package must do more than spark a short-term boost to the economy. It must invest in the nation’s mid- and long-term economic security – and that security must be based on a new energy economy that reverses the growth in greenhouse gas emissions and weans us from our dependence on fossil fuels.

That is the first intelligent energy policy to come out of the White House in a decade. As Congress finalizes the stimulus packages proposed by the Obama administration and House Democrats, job No. 1 is to keep that enlightened strategy intact.

Job No. 2 is to make the package greener.

Usually, you will find Professor Dan J.H. Greenwood teaching in a classroom at the Hofstra University School of Law. He's spent a good part of his career understanding corporations and their role in politics, and his work sheds light on why global warming is not something that corporations will be able to solve without government regulation.

We enticed him on camera to explain to us a thing or two about the pending economic recovery package. With the feds set to print a trillion dollars of new currency and give it away, we were alarmed. After all, if you or I tried to do that, we'd be thrown in jail.

For the good professor, there's no such thing as a dumb question, and so he answered our concerns. He also explained a good deal more: why the current recession is an especially good time to invest in green infrastructure projects; how the poor have been impoverished over recent decades (no, that's not a redundancy); and why the jobs we create are the truest measure of an economy that works.

So welcome to a periodic interview series SolveClimate is inaugurating with this video called A New York Minute with Dan Greenwood: Why the Recession is a Good Time to Invest in Green Infrastructure.