BROOKINGS METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM: AMERICA’S CLEAN ECONOMY DRIVING GROWTH AND INNOVATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
D.C., Washington, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) July 13, 2011 -- July 13, 2011

CONTACTS: John Fairbanks, 202-797-6087, jfairbanks@brookings.edu
Carrie Collins, 301.664.9000, ccollins@bcc-associates.com
Rachel Harvey, 202-797-6073, rharvey@brookings.edu

For a copy of the new report, go to: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/clean_jobs.aspx.

Individual metropolitan clean economy profiles are located at: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/clean_jobs_profiles.aspx.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— America’s “clean” economy employs millions of people across the country’s largest metropolitan areas, but market challenges and policy uncertainty are hindering the sector’s ability to keep pace with other nations, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program.

The report, “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment,” was produced in association with the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice and is the first comprehensive study of the metropolitan geography of this important economic sector, focused on the country’s 100 largest metros.

“The clean economy sector is already an important source of industrial innovation, good-paying manufacturing jobs, and exports for a nation that needs them,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program and a co-author of the report. “Key segments show great promise for helping us use resources more efficiently, improving our national security, protecting our environment, and remaining competitive in rapidly-changing global markets.”

Muro said America’s major economic competitors, such as China and Germany, have jumped out ahead in terms of supporting clean economy development.

“We risk giving away what should be a significant competitive advantage for the U.S.,” Muro said. “In 2004, for example, Chinese clean energy project financing trailed America’s. By 2010, China’s investment was more than double ours. Meanwhile, we are seeing U.S. companies losing market share at home and abroad.”

Among the major findings:

•Jobs: The clean economy employs about 2.7 million people, more than the fossil-fuel industry and twice the size of the biosciences sector.

•Growth: The U.S. clean economy grew by 3.4 percent between 2003 and 2007, slightly behind the 4.2 percent growth of the overall economy, reflecting heavy job losses in the building and housing industries. However, newer clean energy and related segments of the clean economy grew by 8.3 percent during this period, albeit from smaller bases. This growth was nearly twice as fast as the growth of the rest of the economy.

•Manufacturing and Exports: The U.S. clean economy is much more driven by manufacturing and oriented towards exports than the economy as a whole.

•Opportunity: The U.S. clean economy offers more opportunities and better pay for low- and middle-skilled workers than the national economy as a whole.

“The United States should be at the vanguard of developing and deploying new, clean technologies,” said Bruce Katz, Vice President and Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program. “The brutal truth is, unlike our global competitors, we have no strategic framework for expanding the clean economy. We have too few financing tools, and we provide too little support for necessary innovation.

“This is not an area where the public sector needs to get out of the way,” Katz said. “Government leaders, at all levels, need to get in the game. Otherwise, we will watch the rest of the world pull away from us.”

“Just as it does in fossil-fuel industries, the public sector plays a role in developing the clean economy,” Rothwell said, “but that doesn't mean that there isn’t fundamental market demand. Many consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for clean products as varied as organic food, green buildings, and electric cars.”

Meanwhile, Rothwell said, global investment has soared in recent years, with approximately $1 trillion flowing into clean energy segments alone. Venture capital in particular has dramatically shifted in the last two decades towards clean technology, and now represents 16 percent of all U.S. venture capital.

“Sizing the Clean Economy” adopts a sensible definition of this sector, indentifies and categorizes clean economy establishments, and tracks their growth and change. In addition to job growth statistics, the report provides trend data on wage, production, export data, and policy recommendations.

To view press release in its entirety, please visit: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Programs/Metro/clean_economy/0713_clean_economy_memo.pdf

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