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A Green Bailout: We Need Help for People Who Want to Save the Planet
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Maybe the Wall Street bailout package is a good idea.
But the only thing I know for sure is this: even if we avert a total economic meltdown, we will still be in a recession. Millions of Americans still will be without jobs -- or in real fear of losing their job. Worse, we will still be dependent on dirty fuels like oil and coal, which are draining our monetary resources and cooking the planet.
The Earth and everyday people will still be suffering.
I wrote a new book to propose elegant solutions for our economic and environmental crises. The Green Collar Economy offers a green cure for the dilemmas we face and the financial messes we are in.
At this point, I am willing to concede that Wall Street and the big bankers need some propping up. But while we are at it, we should find a way to bail out the little people -- and the planet, too.
So how about a green bailout -- to help both? We already took an important step in that direction today. Perhaps the only thing in the whole bailout package that is inarguably good is the support for the U.S. clean energy sector.
After unconscionable delays, Congress finally gave a boost to our wind power industries and our solar power industries by extending the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and the Production Tax Credit. The price tag was about $9 billion, but the cost was entirely offset, mostly by changes that were made to oil and gas tax rules.
What does America get for that no-net-cost shuffling of the tax code? Plenty. The 8-year extension of ITC alone will create 440,000 jobs. And $230 billion of private investment would be created in the solar and other industries, according to a recent report by Navigant Consulting.
Green Bailout: Half The Money, Twice The Impact
That's a good start. Let's keep going. An all-out "green bailout" could give America TWICE the bang ... for half the bucks.
We just found $700 billion. Let's find another $350 billion. That's half the price tag of the Wall Street rescue -- which has no guarantee of success. But with $350 billion investment, we absolutely and positively could retrofit and repower America using clean, green energy -- and create millions of new jobs, in the process.
A new report just released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors says that we can create over 4 million green jobs if we aggressively shift away from traditional fossil fuels toward alternative energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency.
Another report just released by the Political Economy Research Institute and the Center for American Progress shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs over two years by investing $100 billion in a green economic recovery plan. The report also shows that this investment would create four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
See more stories tagged with: economy, solar power, clean energy, green energy, van jones, green jobs, green for all
Van Jones is executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, California.
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