Jobs in renewable energyA useful element in rebuilding Minnesota’s economy
Minnesota’s economy isn’t doing too well these days. Our state lost 23,000 jobs in the last half of 2007, and it appears that the state’s budget deficit will likely increase from the gloomy forecast issued by the Minnesota Department of Finance last November.
There’s no magic bullet that will reverse this trend, it will take a combination of a lot of efforts to raise Minnesota’s economy to the kind of strength we enjoyed in the last quarter of the 20th century.
But one of those is relatively new and fascinating – financial opportunity and the development of jobs in the renewable-energy industry.
This is precisely what Bob Olson has been saying all along. Being green need not be an economic liability but rather an economic boom for the people of Minnesota if we would simply take the lead and develop those industries in our own back yard. I would encourage Tarryl, if she is serious about renewable energy jobs, to help Bob Olson become our Representative in Congress so that we can truly have an advocate in Washington for the environment and the economic benefits that could be had with renewable energy jobs.
According to an analysis by the Blue-Green Alliance and the Renewable Energy Policy Project, Minnesota could develop about 18,400 new “green” jobs in manufacturing, construction, management, maintenance and financing of wind, biomass, geothermal and solar power projects. According to the analysis, Stearns County’s share of this growth could be around 1,200 jobs.
The Blue-Green Alliance brings together the Sierra Club and United Steelworkers in an effort to:
- Heighten public awareness about the job-creating potential of solutions to global warming;
- Use existing economic development tools to expand investment in clean energy and green chemistry;
- Accelerate green building, energy efficient retrofits, and related spin-off industries;
- Create more investments in green jobs, including those related to fuel-efficient vehicles; and
- Reform trade agreements so they include binding labor rights and environmental standards.
The Renewable Energy Policy Project is attempting to create a discussion about the use of renewable energy.
REPP's goal is to accelerate the use of renewable energy by providing credible information, insightful policy analysis, and innovative strategies amid changing energy markets and mounting environmental needs by researching, publishing, and disseminating information, creating policy tools, and hosting highly active, on-line, renewable energy discussion groups.
I would be remiss if I didn't add to this list the organization founded by Bob Olson, the American Sustainable Energy Council whose mission is to work with all parties in order to advance the cause of sustainable energy.
The analysis points out that Minnesota already has 450 firms that “are currently active in the industrial sectors that could provide the component parts” to reduce emissions by 15 percent worldwide.
Here in Minnesota, we’re ahead of much of the country when it comes to developing the kind of energy standard that can create these new jobs. Last year’s approval of a standard that will require utility companies to have 25 percent of their energy mix come from renewable sources by 2020 was a triumph of bipartisanship.
The Legislature also ordered the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to develop a strategy to maximize the economic benefit to citizens from the renewable-energy standard. Since then, DEED has produced promotional materials and traveled to trade shows to educate potential manufacturers and investors in renewable energy.
Greater energy independence, more jobs, a cleaner environment and bipartisan support—it’s hard to argue with benefits like that. Maybe renewable energy won’t solve all of our state’s economic troubles, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
1 Response to "Tarryl Clark On "Green" Jobs"
DEED is an unimpressive agency and that may be a big part of the doldrums. I would like to see someone take a firm look at where their grant money goes, connections of recipient promotions and promoters, etc.