Right now billions in subsides are given to the oil companies from politicians who receive their campaign donations. Yet with a little long range planning, that money could be reinvested into clean energy and quadruple the jobs provided by the current pollution-driven scenario. Nothing good comes from oil, except for the continuation of our petro-economy that is slowly killing our environment and by extension, all of humanity and the biosphere too. So imagine, if you will, the possibilities of a green economy, full of green jobs.
From The NY Times:
Investing in clean energy could create four times as many jobs as investing in the oil industry, according to a report issued on Tuesday by the Sierra Club, United Steelworkers, the Blue Green Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council and Audubon New York. And clean energy investment would result in about three times the number of good-paying jobs, those that pay at least $16 an hour, according to the report, which was written by the Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute.
Clean energy, to help deter the effects of global warming, could help reduce New Yorkers’ fears of rising temperatures and receding shorelines. The report encourages investment in six areas: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems, wind power, solar power and next-generation biofuels.
Such jobs are based on the proposed investment of $100 billion over two years, through a cap-and-trade program like those sponsored last year in Congress that would “drive private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon permit auctions.” And spending $26 billion on retrofitting, for example, could save $5 billion in energy costs a year, for a net savings after five years or so, according to the report.
Of course not all jobs include going out to remote locations and building giant wind farms. A large part of this budding industry can be found close to home, whether it is by installing small wind generators or simply making current buildings more energy-efficient. Changing the way we live in deference to the future of the planet may sound hard because of the massive scale of our economy. However, there is no better option and honestly, if it pays well to help save the world job by job then that just sweetens the pot.
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