NextGen Climate America, which is NextGen Climate’s sister organization, released a new economic analysis by ICF International showing that cutting carbon pollution will create thousands of jobs in Ohio, help grow the state’s economy and increase Ohio families’ household disposable incomes.
“The report shows the incredible potential in Ohio for creating tens of thousands of new jobs,” said Amanda Wurst, spokesperson for NextGen Climate in Ohio. “We already have nearly 89,000 Ohioans working in the clean energy sector, and we need to continue this momentum. If we thawed the current freeze on Ohio’s renewable portfolio standards and created a plan to meet the Clean Power Plan, we would be stronger positioned to lead throughout the transition to a clean energy economy.”
Key findings of the report are that a clean energy economy will:
- Create up to 56,000 additional Ohio jobs by 2030 and 87,000 new jobs by 2050;
- Boost Ohio’s economy by $9.5 billion by 2030 and $15 billion by 2050;
- Increase Ohio families’ household disposable income by over $400 in 2030 and over $460 in 2050.
Based on data from E3’s Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States, the economic analysis confirms that transitioning to clean energy isn’t just good for the environment—it is also key to job creation and ensuring a prosperous economic future for Ohio. The analysis finds that transitioning to clean energy will grow the Buckeye State’s manufacturing sector, creating 21,500 new jobs by 2030 and 20,000 additional jobs by 2050. Building out the clean energy infrastructure and facilities needed to power Ohio’s economy will create more than 11,100 additional construction jobs by 2030 and 24,200 new jobs by 2050.
It is important to note that this report does not take into account the negative impacts that climate change will have on Ohio’s economy or the adverse health impacts climate change will have on Ohio families, and so it understates the economic benefits of a transition to clean energy.
This new analysis comes just a week after NextGen Climate America released a separate policy report showing that Low-Income Weatherization (a small but vital part of the overall transition to a clean energy economy) creates jobs, saves families money on energy bills and helps cleanup our energy system. Implementing a robust program of this kind can save participating Ohio families $274 per year while creating 2,400 local, middle-class jobs. Both reports make clear that addressing the threat of climate change is a positive economic growth strategy for Ohio.
Ohio is already feeling the negative impacts of climate change. For instance, rising temperatures, combined with air stagnation, increase ground-level smog. Already, 31 counties in Ohio received an air quality grade of C or lower for ozone standards in American Lung Association’s 2015 State of the Air Report. Left unchecked, climate change will make this worse. Increased levels of ozone smog will be detrimental to the nearly 2 million Ohioans suffering from asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases, including 13.7% of all Ohio children. Additionally, about 419,000 children have been diagnosed with asthma in Ohio.
Extreme rainfall events have become 49% more frequent in Ohio over the past 60 years, and this trend will only worsen if climate change is left unaddressed. This will increase flooding, contaminate drinking water, and contribute to disease outbreak. In August 2014, nearly 500,000 residents in Toledo, OH experienced a “do not drink” advisory because of an algal bloom in the water system.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning Ohio’s economy to clean energy is possible with existing technology, and it will create jobs, grow the economy, raise household incomes, and protect Ohio families against the worst impacts of climate change.
This report builds on NextGen Climate America’s analysis in November showing that meeting carbon emissions reduction goals at the national level will help grow the United States economy, create millions of jobs across the country, increase household disposable incomes, and lower energy bills.
Filed Under: News, Policy