Berkeley study finds vast economic benefits from climate laws
Articles — By forcechange on October 20, 2008 8:52 am
A UC Berkeley report delivered to the California state legislators last week found that The Global Warming Solutions Act (passed in 2006), which aims to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, could grow the annual Gross State Product by $74 billion and create 89,000 new jobs by 2020.
Additionally, the report author, Professor David Roland-Holst, notes that the last three decades of strong energy policy in California have resulted in 1.5 million jobs and an additional $45 billion in payroll.
Unlike the federal government, California has had a comprehensive energy policy in place for the past 30 years, resulting in California’s per-capita energy usage remaining flat for that timeframe, placing it now at 40 percent below the national average.
The Global Warming Solutions Act, which was passed two years ago, requires the state to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 by emphasizing energy efficiency and renewable energy. Additionally, in the next few years it will likely be establishing a market to trade pollution credits.
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Go Bears!