California Report Links Low-Carbon Energy Policies to Economic Growth
Stronger provisions will bring greater benefits in the future
December 2008

According to a new report, decades of increasingly stringent environmental policies in California have not only lowered the level of carbon emissions in the state, but have also created about 1.5 million jobs with a total payroll of more than $45 billion.  Projections for the future are more dramatic.

The study forecasts that if California meets its current goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (per Executive Order #S-3-05) and improves energy efficiency by 1% per year along the way, the economic result will be 403,000 additional jobs and an increase of $76 billion in the state’s gross product.

Titled Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Job Creation, the report was issued in October 2008 by the Center for Energy, Resources, and Economic Sustainability (CERES) at the University of California at Berkeley. David Roland-Holst, a director of CERES and an adjunct professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Berkeley, is the author.

Roland-Holst used a complex model developed by CERES to determine the impact of energy policies on household energy expenditures and the corresponding ripple effect throughout the state's economy.  He based his work on the period between 1972 and 2006, during which residents saved a combined total of $56 billion as their per capita energy usage declined relative to other states.

The report concludes that Californians spent their energy savings largely on local goods and services, which spurred the creation of jobs to meet growing demand.  While the nonrenewable energy sector declined as a result, the report states, 50 new jobs in other areas were created for every one energy job lost. Funding was provided by Next 10, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization in Palo Alto, California, which sponsors research on issues facing the state.

For addtional facts, see the related California Flex Your Power e-Newswire. See more California project descriptions published in Conservation Update.

For the original publication, click here