Carl Pope writes: Renewable energy offers new jobs



"The fact that we buy wind turbines from Denmark and not from Cleveland may be absurd, but it is no accident because until now America as a whole hasn't really been serious about creating a new energy economy. Meanwhile, actions by individual states give some clue about how forward-thinking energy policies can create good jobs. " Sierra Club President Carl Pope served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India in the 1960's.

Carl Pope writes: Renewable energy offers new jobs

Renewable energy offers new jobs
Guest Opinion

by Carl Pope

Amid recent bouts with high gas prices, ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, and growing concern about global warming, there is now real consensus in America that reducing our dependence on oil should be among the nation's highest priorities. It turns out that a major commitment to clean energy technologies is also one of the best things we could do to revitalize the manufacturing sector in our country.

At the moment, America lacks any real plan for bringing smart energy solutions into the mainstream, and it's missing out on major job opportunities as a result. Consider the manufacturing of wind turbines as just one telling example. Iron ore mined in northern Minnesota gets shipped abroad to make steel. Danish, German, and Spanish companies then use that steel to make wind turbines.

These turbines are then shipped back to the United States on boats through the Great Lakes to Duluth, where they are placed on trucks and hauled to Iowa and other states with great wind resources. America provides the raw material and pays for the finished product but gets almost none of the economic benefit, foregoing increasingly dear manufacturing jobs. As if that isn't enough, NASA invented the technology itself.

Now imagine a different scenario. What if instead we took that same iron ore from Minnesota and shipped it to the Mittal Steel mill in Cleveland, the most efficient facility of its kind in North America. Because the mill is considerably smaller than it was at its peak, there is prime industrial land sitting unused around the facility.

There's no reason why a wind turbine factory couldn't be built right there on the premises, with its products rolling out across the wind-rich Midwest. American raw materials made into steel made into a finished product by well-paid American workers using American technology-creating jobs and clean energy for America.

The fact that we buy wind turbines from Denmark and not from Cleveland may be absurd, but it is no accident because until now America as a whole hasn't really been serious about creating a new energy economy. Meanwhile, actions by individual states give some clue about how forward-thinking energy policies can create good jobs.

Recently, Spanish wind power company Gamesa Energy decided to invest $34 million to produce towers and blades in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, after the state government all but guaranteed a market by requiring utilities to produce 18 percent of their power from renewable sources in the years to come. The facility will provide 530 good-paying union jobs in a community that has been desperate for a boost since U.S. Steel Corp closed its doors there in 2001.

Note that the Spanish company chose Pennsylvania over Minnesota, which despite its closer proximity to the wind-rich plains has no such renewable energy standard in place.

Earlier this year, Nanosolar, which has seed money from Google executives, announced that it would build the world's largest solar manufacturing facility near San Francisco, creating several hundred new jobs in the process.

It's no coincidence that California has set a goal of producing 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources, and that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has an ambitious initiative aimed at putting solar power on a million roofs in the Golden State in the next 10 years. The state also makes a point of investing its state pension funds in companies that push the green envelope.

America does not have a national plan that requires utilities to produce any power with renewable energy, but it could. And there's no reason why the United States couldn't decide to power 10 million homes with solar roofing. To be most effective, such policies ought to be matched with incentives and publicly assisted financing to get domestic manufacturers on their feet. In fact, there are many, many things this country could be doing to create a home-grown, renewable energy economy. It's been too busy giving subsidies to oil companies to do most of them.

It's time for America to put new energy solutions to work in ways that also put Americans to work. Unless our leaders actively work to create a market for the technologies of the future, they won't get the job, or the jobs done.

Carl Pope is executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. Distributed by MinutemanMedia.org.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: December, 2006; RPCV Carl Pope (India); Figures; Peace Corps India; Directory of India RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for India RPCVs; NGO's; Environment; Energy

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Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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All Volunteers Safe in Fiji All Volunteers in Fiji are safe and accounted for. The Peace Corps is monitoring the situation very closely. Volunteers are on standfast but there are no plans for evacuation at this time. Peace Corps is working closely with the US embassy and with host country partners to monitor the situation. Peace Corps is confident that volunteers are not in harm's way. The military seized control of Fiji on December 5 after weeks of threats. Subscribe to our news feed to read the latest breaking news.

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