As the nation continues to debate its energy future, a new report released this week by researchers in the UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs by investing in a rapid green economic recovery program, which will strengthen the economy, increase energy independence, and fight global warming.
Green Recovery - A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy was prepared by PERI under commission by the Center for American Progress and released by a coalition of labor and environmental groups. The authors of the report are Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Helen Scharber of PERI.
Focusing for now on a short-term clean energy and jobs program, Green Recovery reports that a short-term green stimulus package would create two million jobs nationwide over two years. Later in the fall, PERI and CAP will co-publish a fuller study that addresses the longer-term challenges and opportunities created by building a clean-energy economy.