Contrary to popular belief, fighting climate change would create jobs and improve the economy, assert two separate studies.
A study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and the
Center for American Progress says clean energy could create nearly 3 million new jobs, cutting unemployment by 1.5 percent. And that's while reducing carbon pollution by 40 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
A new study by the
Global Commission on the Economy and Climate also finds that reducing carbon emissions can boost economic growth.
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The Center for American Progress report shows new investments and higher levels of operations and maintenance would create 4.2 million jobs. Despite fewer jobs in fossil fuel sectors, 2.7 million net new jobs would be created.
The report calls for $200 billion in annual investments from public and private resources and sharp reductions in fossil fuels — approximately 60 percent for coal, 40 percent for oil and 30 percent for natural gas.
"Such a transformed fuel mix, while ambitious, is entirely achievable without undue disruption to the security, reliability or affordability of the domestic energy system and would provide a net gain to the U.S. economy," the report states.
The group recommends federal support for workers and communities hit by reductions in fossil fuel use and a carbon cap or tax to help raise revenue.
"Our work shows that the fundamental imperative of climate stabilization is not an outlandish fantasy, but is truly within reach," Robert Pollin, co-director of PERI and a lead author of the report, tells
Fortune.
Rapid technological innovation and new infrastructure investments will make simultaneously reducing carbon emissions and improving the economy possible, asserts the Global Commission's report "The New Climate Economy."
During the next 15 years, approximately $90 trillion will be invested in infrastructure agriculture and energy systems around world that will create new jobs. Improvements in mass transit, restoring degraded lands, falling prices for solar and wind power, phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels and increasing research and development for low-carbon technologies would improve the economy.
"Major companies, smart investors and a new generation of entrepreneurs are already demonstrating how markets can drive low-carbon growth," says Jeremy Oppenheim, the project's global program director. "But inconsistent policy in many countries is now creating uncertainty, hurting investment and job creation. Businesses and investors need clearer market signals."
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