A new report recently released shows that the United States can create two million jobs by investing in a rapid green economic recovery program, which will strengthen the economy, increase energy independence, and fight global warming. Prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, under commission by the Center for American Progress (CAP), Washington, D.C., and released by a coalition of labor and environmental groups, the report, “Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy,” argues that a short-term green stimulus package would create two million jobs nationwide over two years. A follow-up study will address the longer-term challenges and opportunities created by building a clean-energy economy.
The recovery program aims to boost private and public investment in six energy-efficiency and renewable-energy strategies: 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.
The report is part of PERI's ongoing program exploring the renewable energy economy. For the full text of the report, visit PERI’s Web site.