How to Create Green Energy Jobs for Ohio

[Dan Moadus]

Sounds like a fine program, except it seems as though there is increasingly less demand for the green energy products, as Countries all over the world cut back on subsidizing green energy projects. And as we all know, without subsidies, few buy green energy devices, and equipment.

[irishbobcat]

How to Create Green Energy Jobs for Ohio

From the Apollo Alliance:

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Amid growing concerns about the U.S. losing clean energy manufacturing jobs to other countries, a new report released this week by Policy Matters Ohio, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and the Apollo Alliance documents how one clean energy investment proposal, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown's Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act, would help create and retain clean energy manufacturing jobs in Ohio.

The Impact of IMPACT: Creating Jobs in Ohio finds that the IMPACT Act, which is contained in the proposed Senate clean energy and climate bill, would create between 41,063 and 52,214 new jobs across Ohio.

The IMPACT Act would establish a two-year $30 billion revolving loan fund to assist small- and medium-sized manufacturers retool to produce clean energy component parts and become more energy efficient. It would also increase long-term funding for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program to help manufacturers access clean energy markets and adopt innovative, energy-efficient manufacturing technologies. Provisions that are nearly identical to those in IMPACT were included in the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2009.

"PERI's analysis finds that investing in the retooling and conversion of small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Ohio would create a robust engine of job growth for the state," said Heidi Garrett-Peltier, the economist who conducted the analysis. "We find that the investments from IMPACT would not only retain current jobs, but they would also create new jobs that utilize the skills of the workers of Ohio. These investments are a potentially powerful way to revitalize the manufacturing sector in the state."

The findings of the report are relevant to other manufacturing states and to anyone who wants to ensure that comprehensive federal clean energy and climate measures create the economic benefits that American workers are expecting. To read the report, visit the Policy Matters Ohio website.

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