Building Green Cars Could Create 150,000 Jobs

By James Park

From blog.aflcio.org

March 17th, 2010

Congress has the power to put thousands of Americans in some of the hardest-hit industries back to work and help protect the environment at the same time, according to a new report. New vehicle technology and the right policy choices, including incentives for higher fuel efficiency vehicles, could create up to 150,000 jobs for U.S. workers. But it will take strong, visionary action by our elected leaders to ensure those jobs are created here, the report says.

In “Driving Growth: How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs,” the UAW, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Center for American Progress demonstrate how a new fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles would allow drivers to enhance energy security, reduce carbon emissions and put autoworkers and many others back to work.

The economic and environmental benefits underscore the need for Congress to pass strong clean energy and climate legislation that would promote good-paying domestic jobs and encourage investments in efficient, oil-saving technologies, the report says.

In a recent opinion column in the Detroit News, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said foreign governments are investing heavily in their automotive sectors. For example, Europe and Japan have significant leads in hybrids, diesels, direct diesel injection and turbochargers. It’s time for the U.S. government to aggressively invest in new, advanced technologies, he said.

But along with providing incentives to manufacturers, the government has a responsibility to taxpayers to ensure the products that result from our investments are made in this country.

During a telephone press conference this morning, Gettelfinger said his union’s top priority in any climate change legislation is continued funding of the U.S. Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVMIP), which helps automakers and other companies develop energy efficient vehicles and parts.

[By continuing the ATVMIP] the federal government can make it much more likely that these jobs will be located in the United States. The ATVMIP is good for the environment and good for American workers.

Building energy efficient vehicles in the United States will have a “ripple effect” throughout the economy, NRDC Executive Director Peter Lehner said during the call. It would drive demand for a variety of manufactured components from engines to control valves, creating jobs in the supply chain as well as on the assembly line and bringing the workers’ communities back to life.

By building cleaner cars, we can tackle some of our most dire problems at the same time. We want to reduce carbon pollution and many unemployed people want to return to work. Building better cars can help with both.

Also on the call, Bracken Hendricks, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said, “We know more fuel-efficient cars will mean more jobs for autoworkers but we don’t know which country will get those jobs.”