Claim:
“The number of new green jobs from a climate regime are overstated compared to the number of manufacturing jobs lost, and we know from the National Association of Manufacturers how many jobs would have been lost with any of these schemes in the past”
– Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) from his January 8, 2009 statement on the floor of the Senate.
Truth:
This statement is based on a 2008 study of the Lieberman-Warner bill by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF). This study relies on several misguided and unrealistic assumptions, some of which do not even reflect the actual provisions in the bill.
A cap will concentrate new job creation and training in low carbon sectors. The net job impacts are likely to be minimal in either direction. While some sectors (e.g. coal mining) may contract in the near- to medium-term, other sectors will see job growth.
Because renewable energy and energy efficiency are relatively labor intensive, and depend on domestic supply chains, investments driven by climate legislation will be particularly good drivers of job creation in the near term.