Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States

— filed under: Federal Resource, Policy Resource

"Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States", is a new report from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (PERI), commissioned by Green For All and NRDC.

"Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States" is a new report from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (PERI), commissioned by Green For All and NRDC.

The report finds that investments in a clean energy economy can significantly drive down the unemployment rate and provide job opportunities to Americans across all skill and education levels. Through increased employment and lower energy bills and transportation costs, the standard of living for low-income people in particular would rise.

"Green Prosperity" focuses on job creation and the economic impact of clean-energy investments on lower-income families nationally, as well as in forty-one metropolitan statistical areas and Congressional Districts.

The report is written by Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, and Heidi Garrett-Peltier from PERI. PERI released a complimentary report with the Center For American Progress called "The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy: How the Economic Stimulus Program and New Legislation Can Boost U.S. Economic Growth and Employment."

Download the Executive Summary

“These reports makes clear that investment in a clean-energy economy will create pathways to prosperity for millions of Americans, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. Green-collar, career-path jobs that are accessible to Americans from a broad range of educational backgrounds are a win for our economy, a win for our environment, and a win for our workers.”