Give A Green Boost To The Economy
by Rebecca Wodder, American Rivers Council on 01.29.08
What our economy needs right now is a whole lot of green: Green jobs, green projects and green investments that will boost local economies while improving our environment and quality of life.
Congress is looking at ways to jump-start the economy and avoid a recession. Recently, we’ve been hearing from a lot of governors, mayors, and economists saying that infrastructure investments are among the most powerful and enduring things we can do to grow the economy. Investing in “green” upgrades to our nation’s sewage and drinking water systems may not sound sexy (know any Hollywood stars who want to speak up for sewage treatment?) but I’d argue it is the most important thing we can do to create jobs, improve clean water, protect public health and safety, beautify our communities, and revitalize our economy
Our nation’s pipes and sewers – many built 50 to 100 years ago – are old and quickly deteriorating. The report card released by the American Society of Civil Engineers on the state of the nation’s infrastructure gave a grade of D- to sewers and water treatment plants -- very near failing. The Environmental Protection Agency warns that we could soon see sewage pollution levels that we haven’t seen since the 1970s. This means more waterborne illnesses, more beach closures and fewer opportunities for fishing and boating.
Investments to fix these outdated structures and systems would pump money into the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs -- for every billion dollars invested in water infrastructure construction, 47,000 jobs are created. And it’s important to invest in environmentally-friendly public works projects wherever possible. Green approaches to managing water and sewage not only save us money, it brings all kinds of other benefits to people, rivers and wildlife.
Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland, New York, Washington DC, Seattle, and Los Angeles are already leaders when it comes to green projects. These cities are embracing green roofs, rain gardens, urban tree planting, and other ways to reduce storm-water runoff. Instead of funneling stormwater into a pipe, it can be used to cool buildings and irrigate landscapes, or simply allowed to seep into the ground to replenish streams and groundwater. If every city embraced these ideas, think of how many "green collar" jobs we could create.
Another great way to create green jobs is to boost funding for retrofits of old toilets, plumbing fixtures and water-using appliances to more efficient models. Much of the country is struggling with drought and impacts to their water supplies from climate change, so investing in water efficiency is a smart solution. Over a decade ago, New York City created jobs and dropped water consumption by 26 percent by installing more than a million low-flow toilets.
The bottom line is that green investments pay off. They can make our rivers cleaner, create green collar jobs, and make our communities better places to live. Our message to Congress: Want to jump-start the economy? Go green.
Image credit::Flickr. Victoria BC Marriott Green Roof
I've collaborated on a similar piece which is posted at Worldwatch:
Last week, the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Bush Administration announced a tentative agreement on a $150 billion stimulus package to jumpstart the U.S. economy. But they could have done far better—by designing a green stimulus package with the potential to boost the economy and create jobs while minimizing environmental harm.
Imagine if the announced economic stimulus package focused on facilitating investments in innovative green technologies, including wind and solar energy. Imagine providing funds to retrofit buildings so they no longer require heavy air conditioning in the summer and expensive heating in the winter. Imagine launching an effort to wean us off our debilitating addiction to automobiles by investing in public transit and encouraging developers to build communities that are less sprawling and more walkable. Imagine spawning a revolution in industrial technologies to reduce not only carbon emissions but also air pollutants and toxics.
Visit here to read more.
I bet Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs would be willing to speak up for sewage upgrades.
Sorry--if you can't click on it, the link in my first comment is: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5590.
Same song and dance, just a different day of divide and conquer. Nice to see world leaders flying in their personal Jets and private airplanes to discuss the environment. What a crock on such a waste of gas and the lights it takes to keep their mansions lit.
How is it going to jump start the economy when the gov't spends MORE money?!?!?! I think you need to go back to school and take basic math! The gov't need to spend less, in turn taxing less, and we all bring more money home to buy things for our familys which will jump start the economy! HELLO!!!!!
=== author's response follows ====
The reason infrastructure investments are a net positive is because of what economists call the 'multiplier effect.'
You can get at this yourself by answering these simple questions
How many truck drivers and disributors of goods will face added expense and perhaps go out of business if the roads and bridges decay?
How may fishing boat sales and resort vacations will disappear forever if sewerage treatment plants fail and make the once clean water unswimmable?
How will property lake and river home property values lowered and lives lost to floods if publicly built dams are let to go unmaintained.
The list can go on and on and on.
Hi.
Some good suggestions here about how to kick start the American economy. It would be fantastic to see all these green jobs created in the United States.
Without wanting to be negative about it, I wanted to draw attention to the style of writing that many Treehugger articles adopt, and this article is a prime example. In short, the article adopts a very US-centric tone, and that alienates readers who aren’t from the United States.
The article talks about 'our nation’, ‘our economy’, and ‘our communities’ yet, as a treehugger reader who isn’t from, and doesn’t live in the United States, the article doesn’t speak to me. It makes me feel that this website is for Americans, and the rest of the world, well, who cares about them.
That’s not to say that Treehugger doesn’t have articles from around the globe. It certainly does, and that is great. Most of these articles go to some length to explain environmental, regulatory, political or social conditions in those parts of the world. But many authors take for granted that people will be familiar with the geo/socio/economic factors in the context of the United States. And that implies to readers like me that you’re not writing to me and that we don’t matter.
Environmental problems are global and affect us all, regardless of nationality. It would be good if _all_ Treehugger authors began writing to a global audience and adopted an international tone.
Thanks for putting up with my rant.
Mike.
I would completely agree with your statement, but there is one problem. Unemployment is so low that there would be no workers to do the job to go green.