Column: There's a Burning Mandate for Change, Green Jobs

by George Miller (Columbus Dispatch) ... From geothermal steam in Nevada to the low-carbon biofuel feedstocks harvested across Ohio, carbon savings are available through the labor and ingenuity of green energy workers in every community. We’ve seen this strategy work in California, where the clean energy industry already supports 475,000 jobs — solid, middle-class jobs that serve as anchors of the community. The competitive embrace of solar and wind by forward-looking investors has made wind turbine service technicians the fastest-growing job in America, only slightly ahead of solar photovoltaic installers, according to the U.S. Labor Department. This is a welcome opportunity for blue-collar families.

Even California oil refineries are future-proofing, with investments to produce low-carbon biodiesel made from plants and waste. In part, that’s because California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard complements the national Renewable Fuel Standard to support clean, homegrown biofuels for transportation. Bio-based fuels like ethanol are responsible for nearly 80% of all carbon cuts achieved under the LCFS since 2011 (despite a decline in U.S. cropland, thanks to increasingly sustainable agriculture).

We’re also moving faster than any other state on zero-carbon electricity, but we know that transportation — not power plants — is now the single greatest source of emissions. And with nearly 300 million cars on the road, working families need affordable, low-carbon fuels they can put in their vehicles right now.

Other progressive states are making similar efforts. In Minnesota, fuel retailers have put California’s LCFS to shame, boosting local farmers and shattering records for the sale of higher biofuel blends, like E15. These clean energy victories work because they reflect the needs and resources of each community — and that’s the model the next administration must follow to secure a mandate powerful enough the shatter the status quo.

Green deals are good; green jobs are even better — but time is running out. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: BY THE NUMBERS: Clean energy jobs paid 25 percent more than the national median wage in 2019, according to new analysis Thursday from Environmental Entrepreneurs, the American Council on Renewable Energy, and the Clean Energy Leadership Institute. Workers in the sector earned a median hourly wage of $23.89 in 2019 compared with the national median wage of $19.14, according to the report, prepared by BW Research Partnership.

The analysis found that clean energy jobs were also more likely to be unionized and include health care and retirement benefits. The overall clean energy industry saw a 9 percent unionization rate last year — 3 percent above the U.S. average rate, though the report said the rate varies by occupation. The highest unionization rate — 12 percent — was seen in grid modernization and storage.

The report comes as Biden has repeatedly pitched his clean energy plan as one that will create "good-paying" union jobs. According to the report, clean energy jobs were comparable with jobs in fossil fuels. Solar and wind paid about $24.85 an hour, while energy efficiency saw a median hourly, salary of about $24.44. Median wages for fossil fuel extraction jobs in coal, gas and petroleum — including mining, fracking and drilling — were about $24.37 per hour last year, the report said, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Just desserts: As POLITICO Magazine's Michael Grunwald writes, Biden's clean power plans would require the closure of most coal and gas plants within 15 years, and it's ultimately incompatible with most fracking operations even though he opposes an outright fracking ban. But Biden isn't making up the economic opportunities inherent in a clean-energy transition; Trump's Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that America's fastest-growing job in the 2020s will be wind-turbine technician, and that solar-installer will be the third-fastest. READ MORE

Excerpt from Bloomberg: As Americans vote in an election that will redefine national climate priorities, the biggest U.S. companies—even those with ambitious green agendas—are throwing their support behind lawmakers who routinely stall climate legislation, Bloomberg reports. The companies examined spent nearly twice as much on candidates who often obstruct climate action than on those seen as climate-friendly. READ MORE