In a recent study published by PERI, UMass Economics Professor Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim (UMass Ph.D., 2005) and Heidi Garrett-Peltier (UMass Ph.D. student) outline the greatest challenge now facing the United States: transitioning from a fossil fuel driven economy to a cleaner, greener economy.
The United States today faces a formidable generation-long challenge: to transform the economy from being driven primarily by fossil fuel sources of energy, which are the major cause of global climate change, to becoming an economy that can function effectively through renewable energy sources and by achieving high levels of energy efficiency.
The project of building a clean-energy economy will become a powerful engine of expanding employment opportunities throughout the U.S. economy. According to a study that PERI recently completed with the Center for American Progress, clean-energy investments at the level of about $150 billion per year—i.e. around one percent of U.S. GDP—can generate about 1.7 million net new jobs throughout the U.S. economy.
Read more on this study.