Just as the U.S. benefitted from Detroit's leadership on autos, New York's leadership in global finance, and Silicon Valley's leadership in software, it will benefit from leading the new green economy.  Businesses are working with the U.S. government to put more than $60 billion in green infrastructure, efficiency, and clean energy investments to work.

 

 

Investing in a green economy could create millions of new, well-paying green jobs.  A recent study from the Center for American Progress found that recent Federal investments (coupled with new energy legislation) could produce $150 billion in new economic activity -- much of it in the private-sector -- and create 1.7 million jobs.

A new green economy will reduce our dependence on foreign oil. In 2007, the United States imported about 58% of the petroleum it consumed.  That represented more than 20% of our total imports.  

 

 

Business Forward Energy Briefing (L to R Greg Nelson, White House Office of Public Engagement, Macon Phillips, White House New Media Director, Jon Carson, Council on Environmental Quality, Professor Daniel Schrag, Director of Harvard University's Center for the Environment) 

 

 

A study by the Pew Center on climate change's impact on business found that those most susceptible to losses were those with  significant investments in infrastructure, those in sectors where weather and climate is an integral part of production (such as agriculture or construction), industries that rely heavily on transport and other infrastructure in their supply and demand chains, or those facing reflected risks, such as the insurance industry. These are the same sectors that can benefit most from investment in sustainable, environmentally friendly investment in the new green economy. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) estimates that a 25% national Renewable Electricity Standard would lower heat-trapping CO2 emissions by 277 million metric tons annually by 2025, the equivalent annual output from 70 typical new coal plants or the emissions of 45.3 million cars. As the White House has noted, "We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc across the landscape, or we can create jobs working to prevent its worst effects. These changes threaten to alter nearly every sector of our economy, and our planet, and they are threats that must be addressed." 

A key challenge for environmental and energy reform is how to transition to a clean economy quickly, while still protecting business and consumers from higher energy prices and greater price volatility.  We will review DOE and independent studies that have found that higher renewable energy standards can reduce overall energy costs by alleviating demand for expensive natural gas.  For example, the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that a 25% national RES will lower electricity and natural gas bills $64.3 billion by 2025, rising to $95.5 billion by 2030.