Will Going Green Save The US Economy?

The US and world economy has been at the forefront of everyone's thoughts these days with the catastrophic Wall Street crash, foreclosures, and the recent government bailouts of financial giants. One thing that many are not thinking about when looking at the US economy is how by investing in clean energy technologies today, we will not only be securing our energy independence for the future, but also create a new mega giant industry. This industry could easily aid our unemployment woes, as a new report shows that New Jersey alone would be able to produce 57,000 jobs by going green.

In the "Green Recovery" report, which was commissioned by the Center for American Progress, they suggest spending $100 billion (the same amount given away in the stimulus package) on "promoting renewable energy, retrofitting buildings to be energy-efficient and expanding public transportation."

This proposal could create a whopping 2 million jobs nationwide. New Jersey would need to invest $3.2 billion total for this program. The study split it up into $1.3 billion to renovate buildings,$947 million for solar panels, wind turbines and bio-fuels, $631 million for mass transit and freight rail improvements, and $316 million to update the electrical grid.

Both presidential candidates support reducing climate change, and both support investing in green alternative energy. From the Barack Obama website, his energy plan will... "Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future," while also "Create Millions of New Green Jobs". 

The John McCain website says that "That The U.S. Must Become A Leader In A New International Green Economy. Green jobs and green technology will be vital to our economic future. There is no reason that the U.S. should not be a leader in developing and deploying these new technologies."

The apparent answer to the question: Will Going Green Save the US Economy? Seems to be an overwhelming, yes. By going green and investing in these technologies there will be a major return on this investment, while creating millions of new jobs as we reduce our independence on oil and clean up the environment. Although "Going Green" will not be the magic fix, it will be one part in the puzzle that will bring America back from the brink of disaster that it witnessed last week.