In just several short weeks, President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States before a crowd of millions in America and billions worldwide. This historic occasion represents to many a break with the politics of the past and hope for newfound solutions to many of the difficult issues that confront our nation.
As the incoming Administration and Congress gets down to work in January, their plates will be full dealing simultaneously with the financial crisis and economic downturn, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, restoration of our foreign relations, healthcare reform, education reform, and the enormous package of energy, climate and environment issues.
In this tsunami of policy issues there is one golden (green) option that unlocks solutions for almost all; renewable energy.
Immediate investment in this field will unravel the errors of the past and begin to weave a tapestry of positive impacts that will cover every one of our current policy challenges.
Incentives that cause investment in wind farms, solar power projects and other renewables will create immediate markets for new high-tech companies and jobs in manufacturing, engineering, finance, installation, maintenance and repair. This will be a boon to corporate America, including the auto workers who are already skilled at such jobs, as well as the high tech venture capital investors who are in the business of creating new companies.
Germany did this in 2003, and by 2007 this country of 90 million people had created a total of 250,000 new jobs directly attributed to renewables: 82,000 jobs in wind power, 27,000 jobs in solar power, 13,000 jobs in solar heating, 9,400 jobs in small hydropower, 4,200 jobs in geothermal energy, and 95,200 jobs in biomass energy, power and fuels. Had the United States done the same thing, our country with over 300 million people could have created approximately 750,000 new jobs as a result.
Renewable energy can even help ameliorate the financial crisis. The banks see risk everywhere and have stopped lending. But, they will slowly come back through a "flight to quality." And what is more high quality than a wind farm or solar project that has both revenues from the electric utility and real assets as collateral for the loan? The Obama-led energy strategy can be based on a commitment to increase renewable energy to 25 percent of our nation's energy supply by the year 2025.
This will require an investment of $2 trillion to $3 trillion starting immediately; directing our money into new, job creating investments.
Renewable energy takes us forward as a nation, and makes money doing it.
Renewable energy can also give us a new focus on education.
We will need to educate and train the millions of scientists, engineers, technicians, installers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and all manner of workers to rebuild our infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of workers in the U.S. already possess the vast majority of occupational skills necessary to reduce global warming and make the shift to a clean energy economy. Today, green-collar workers are installing solar panels, retrofitting buildings to make them more efficient, constructing transit lines, refining waste oil into biodiesel, erecting wind farms, repairing hybrid cars, building green rooftops, planting trees, and more.
In fact, according to research by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and Management Information Services, Inc. (MISI), aggressive development of the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries could generate up to $4.5 trillion in revenue and create 40 million new jobs by the year 2030.
It is widely recognized that renewable energy will play an integral role in energy supply in the 21st century. Let's unleash the power of innovation that will create the immediate jobs that are needed to return our country to its rightful place on the global stage.
Michael Eckhart is founding President and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE).
