Environmental, economic win-win

To the editor,

De-carbonizing our country will be an enormous challenge. The opportunity of that challenge will be in incredible job growth, an economic stimulant. The Brookings Institute just issued a report summarizing, “The transition to the clean energy economy will primarily involve 320 unique occupations spread across three major industrial sectors: clean energy production, energy efficiency and environmental management.” As impressive, the Department of Energy’s 2017 report revealed that solar energy was employing more workers than the traditional coal, gas and oil industries combined. The argument that “transitioning away from fossil fuels will tank the economy” simply does not hold true.

A properly designed carbon policy can also be good for the economy. The bipartisan “Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act” is an effective approach to significantly reduce carbon emissions without shifting the burden to the American people. Reduce the cost of climate-related disasters and advance economic growth. We can do this.

– Jan D. Dixon, Cortez