The historic $700 billion bailout package might – might – avert a total economic meltdown. But, it’s probably not going to stop America from going into a recession. So believes Van Jones, and he’s taken to The Huffington Post to explain why a ‘green bailout’ would be a better idea. A $350 billion investment in green energy could provide millions of new jobs, boost the economy and help us move forward into clean energy independence.
From The Huffington Post:
A new report just released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors says that we can create over 4 million green jobs if we aggressively shift away from traditional fossil fuels toward alternative energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency.
Another report just released by the Political Economy Research Institute and the Center for American Progress shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs over two years by investing $100 billion in a green economic recovery plan. The report also shows that this investment would create four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
Green For All and its partners are proposing a Clean Energy Corps that includes a revolving loan fund to finance the ambitious retrofitting of the nation’s building stock. An investment of less than $3 billion per year would provide financing and can be expected to create close to 120,000 green jobs a year and 600,000 over five years, while also lowering home heating and electricity bills for homeowners and small businesses.
As Jones points out, a green economic package like this would be expensive up front but would pay for itself in energy savings and in tax dollars generated by new jobs and businesses. Read more about the Clean Energy Corps proposal at the Green for All website. Jones also goes into greater detail of his vision for a better future in his new book, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.
Link [The Huffington Post] + [Green for All]
