More Jobs With 20 Percent Renewable Energy

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, August 5, 2004 (ENS) – Increased use of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources would create thousands of new highly skilled renewable energy jobs in Arizona, according to a new analysis released Monday by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The scientific organization says that enacting a national renewable electricity standard requiring that 20 percent of the nation’s electricity be produced by renewables by 2020 would create 3,900 jobs in Arizona alone. The 20 percent standard would generate $1.6 billion in new capital investment and $1.6 billion in savings on energy bills in Arizona, the analysis shows. "Arizona can use renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, to produce solar and wind jobs, save consumers money on their electricity bills and enhance public health, said Jeff Deyette, energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Arizona can harness its tremendous renewable energy potential to benefit the entire state." Deyette will present the findings of his report at the Southwest Renewable Energy Conference in Flagstaff today. He found that the 20 percent renewable electricity standard would produce $115 million in property tax revenues for rural communities and $20 million in income for ranchers and rural landowners. The renewables policy would create 2.6 times more jobs than new natural gas and coal power plants. "Arizona should be a national leader on renewable energy. The state is currently producing less than one-half of one percent of its electricity from non-hydro renewable energy when much more is possible," said Craig Cox, executive director of the Western Business Coalition for New Energy Technologies. A national renewable electricity standard of 20 percent by 2020 has been adopted by Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry. If it were enacted into law, Deyette’s analysis shows, the annual consumer savings across the country would be nearly $13.8 billion. U.S. power plant carbon dioxide emissions, a major contributor to global warming, would be 15 percent lower in 2025 under a national renewable electricity standard of 20 percent by 2020. The same policy would reduce other pollutants from burning fossil fuels such as nitrogen oxides that produce smog and mercury that harms human health, Deyette says. Increasing renewable energy use would also reduce the environmental impacts of extracting and transporting fossil fuels. A national renewable electricity standard is a similar policy goal to the one adopted last month by the Western Governors’ Association of developing 30,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2015. Want to read more stories like this? Subscribe to Environment News Service for only $24 a year?