Study: The fight against climate change added 41,000 jobs to the Inland economy

Publication Date
Author
Jeff Horseman
Source
The Press-Enterprise

More than $9 billion and 41,000 jobs have been added to the Inland economy as a result of California’s climate change initiatives, a new study found.

And the indirect effect of that spending supported more than 73,000 jobs and $14.2 billion in economic activity in the Inland Empire from 2010 to 2016, according to the study commissioned by Next 10.

“The report indicates that overall, policies including cap and trade, the renewable portfolio standard, as well as energy-efficiency and distributed solar programs, are contributing jobs and benefits,” said Next 10 founder and venture capitalist F. Noel Perry in a news release.

An Inland economist, however, takes issue with some of the study’s findings. John Husing, chief economist with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, said the study doesn’t adequately address the impact of higher costs caused by climate change programs on low-income residents.

A nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in San Francisco, Next 10 focuses on economic, environmental and quality of life issues.

The study comes about two weeks after California lawmakers narrowly approved extending the state’s Cap-And-Trade program to 2030. The program sells credits, or licenses to pollute, with the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Cap-and-trade’s supporters consider the program an essential tool in the quest to stop climate change from endangering humanity. Critics say cap-and-trade harms businesses and families who will bear the brunt of higher gasoline prices spurred by the program.

The Inland Empire is a unique testing ground for climate change policies. Its roughly 4 million residents tend to be poorer with longer commutes than other Californians, and the region’s air quality is among the nation’s worst.

At the same time, the region’s vast expanse of open land, strong winds and constant sunshine make for prime real estate for solar and wind projects. The Inland Empire already is hotter on average than California’s coastal areas, and the prospect of rising global temperatures could fuel more intense wildfires in a region brimming with bone-dry vegetation.

Next 10’s study is billed as the first-ever look at the effect of climate change policies on the Inland economy. Researchers wanted to study the Inland Empire because the region’s challenges are similar to those in other states, Betony Jones, the report’s lead author, said in a telephone interview.

Jones is associate director of the Green Economy Program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. Her center, along with the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at Berkeley’s law school and an economist at Colorado State University-Pueblo, put together the study.