This is definitely an ambitious goal. Measuring the feasibility of Biden’s plan is quite difficult and depends on several variables, including whether Congress will pass climate legislation. Biden has proposed a $ 2 billion climate plan, which includes spending on things like renovating green energy infrastructure in the US. Green jobs are also difficult to define, with different studies varying greatly depending on what type of job they choose. For context, it is also worth examining President Barack Obama’s climate and energy efforts, many of which were recalled under President Donald Trump, and the impact they have had on green work.
Clean energy work numbers
To first measure the feasibility of Biden’s plan, one must determine what these clean energy-related jobs are, and get good data to establish a baseline and historical trends, which are not easy.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics investigated what it called ‘green work’ in 2010, before the budget cut stopped the study in 2013. The BLS has broadly defined these positions, in part as those in which the duties of employees mean the production processes of their enterprise more environmentally. friendly or use less natural resources. ‘
This definition was not limited to those who directly contribute to the construction, installation or maintenance of green energy technology, but was so broad that it included work in sewage, publishers of environmental trade publications and environmental and scientific museums, to name a few. to name.
A 2020 report by Environmental Entrepreneurs, a non-partisan group of business leaders focused on the environment and the economy, found that ‘[b]That’s why nearly 3.4 million Americans worked in clean energy during the COVID-19 crisis – solar, wind, energy efficiency, clean vehicles and more. ”
Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, said the study did not focus on the broad category of “green work”, but rather on work involved in the clean energy process.
“[P]people can call what they want, a green job, ‘Keefe said,’ whether it’s someone working in recycling or something like that. OK, well this is green work. I’m talking about working with clean energy. ‘
Obama’s efforts
Obama, who has campaigned hard for tackling climate change, has seen significant barriers throughout the courts, legislation that dies in the Senate and eventually has many of his government’s new environmental regulations revoked under President Donald Trump.
One study led by Syracuse professor David Popp examined the ‘green’ funds of the Recovery Act – focusing on environmental issues – and found that for every $ 1 million dollars a few years later, 10 new jobs were created.
“Almost all of the jobs were manual labor, a lot of which was construction,” Popp told CNN. ‘Much of it is by design, because that’s where the money is targeted’ through energy efficiency upgrades and the installation of renewable energy infrastructure.
“[Obama] Adam Rome, an environmental historian at the University of Buffalo, told CNN.
Despite Democrats controlling Congress only with a thin razor, Rome said Biden could have the opportunity to work on ‘legislative, non-executive action’ to address climate change.
“Biden, I think, admits he has that kind of New Deal moment here,” Rome said.
Biden’s challenge
The current pandemic is also creating constraints on what Biden can currently achieve in Congress, with most members focused on an economic incentive package from Covid-19. And if the president is unable to pass a stimulus package, his climate agenda is highly unlikely to do so.
Even if Biden succeeds in his energy plan through a senate with strong differences of opinion on environmental policy, experts disagree as to whether his goal is to achieve millions more jobs for clean energy.
“If the question is, I think the Biden plans are going to create millions of jobs, the answer is yes,” Keefe told CNN. “Is it 10 million? Is it 20 million? I think it needs to be determined.”
Benjamin Zycher, a resident scholar who focuses on energy and environmental policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-thinking tank, told CNN that “more expensive energy means less work. It’s just that simple.”
“The best you could hope for,” Zycher said, “is simply a shift from other sectors to green sectors, but it is also being defined.”