Will clean energy hurt low-income Americans?
A common argument among opponents of strong climate and energy legislation is that transitioning to clean energy will hurt the economy and low-income Americans.
A common argument among opponents of strong climate and energy legislation is that transitioning to clean energy will hurt the economy and low-income Americans.
In an op-ed this week, Senator James Inhofe wrote that the American Clean Energy and Security Act will have a “devastating impact on the economy… cost millions of American jobs” and result in “higher electricity prices in our homes.”
Others suggest that they oppose clean energy investments for the sake of low-income people who, they say, would suffer under a green economy.
This argument is scary, no doubt. It is also utterly false.
Today, Green For All, NRDC and PERI released a report projecting the complete opposite of this disingenuous argument. The report, entitled “Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States” finds that investments in a clean energy economy are good for Americans, especially low-income people.
