California Reaps Rewards of Energy Efficiency. By Matt Nauman, San Jose Mercury News, October 20, 2008. "Three decades of emphasis on energy efficiency in California has created 1.5 million jobs and $45 billion in payroll, and measures to combat global warming will result in similar gains in the decade ahead, a UC-Berkeley researcher says in a report [Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Job Creation in California, PDF, 82 pp] to be released today. In fact, policies that mandate cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, such as the state's landmark law known as AB 32 [PDF, 32 pp], will require energy-efficiency improvements that will mean 403,000 new jobs with a payroll of $48 billion and a contribution of $76 billion to the gross state product by 2020, according to David Roland-Holst. 'The current financial crisis reminds us of the importance of responsible risk management,' said Roland-Holst, a researcher with the university's Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Suatainability... The state has suggested AB 32 might create 60,000 jobs, Roland-Holst said, but it didn't factor in gains in energy efficiency due to the innovations that will result in even more jobs. The study was commissioned by Next 10, a non-profit that funds research into issues it considers vital to California's future. AB 32 was adopted two years ago and the state's Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission jointly approved how will be implemented last week [by issuing its final draftof an economywide plan, Climate Change Proposed Scoping Plan: A Framework for Change, PDF, 142 pp]. Final approval will come from the state's Air Resources Board. The law, which requires the state to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, will emphasize energy efficiency and renewable energy. It includes the establishment of a market to trade pollution credits, and it calls for cleaner cars and cleaner fuels."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment