Sunday, September 06, 2009
Green jobs are the future
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Don Hanshew
Hanshew is the general manager of ThermaSteel Corp. in Radford.
Tomorrow is Labor Day, but for thousands of Virginia families, there isn't much to celebrate. Since last year at this time, our state has lost more than 100,000 jobs. There is one sector of Virginia's economy that's growing, however, and has the potential to grow even more with the right policies: the energy efficiency and clean energy sectors.
It takes 100 trees to build a 1,500-square-foot house. My company can build that same house using the steel from two recycled cars. And the energy costs will be lower because the steel and polystyrene panels ThermaSteel makes for the floors, walls, ceilings and roofs are more energy efficient than any other building material.
We've provided building materials for more than 60,000 residential and commercial projects around the world. But there's a lot more that companies like mine can do to make sure America can compete in the new global energy economy.
After Labor Day, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on legislation that would cap global warming gas emissions. The clean energy bill, by capping greenhouse gas emissions from dirty sources of energy, will build a larger market for energy-efficient products and renewable sources of energy. That means jobs, and lots of them.
A greater awareness of energy efficiency will help my company expand and create more jobs at the ThermaSteel Manufacturing plant in Radford. But it's not just my company that will grow. Everyone involved in our projects -- contractors, electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, architects and engineers -- will get more work, too.
As important, the clean energy bill will encourage businesses to be more creative. People will begin to think about different ways to design buildings, start using alternative sources of energy or invent new products and services altogether. Some people will be so successful with their new ideas that they will end up selling energy back to the grid.
Not only will the legislation create jobs and encourage innovation, it will also help end our dependence on foreign oil. For decades, we've sent billions of dollars to countries that aren't our friends. A system like the one in the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, will cut oil imports by $20 billion per year, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Some folks are worried that the clean energy bill will raise their energy costs. In fact, the bill has strong provisions to protect consumers. Even without counting its economic benefits, including job creation and reducing the costs of global warming, this legislation will cost the average American about a dime a day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
When it comes right down to it, it's a question of whether we pay a little more now or a lot more later. As oil and natural gas become scarcer, prices will continue to skyrocket. On the other hand, solar and wind energy will never run out and no foreign country can control its price.
There will always be folks who don't want to change. They do things the way their daddy did and the way his daddy did. But we can't keep doing what we've always done. America has already allowed China and Europe to get ahead of us in creating wind and solar technologies. In 2001, we owned 28 percent of the global market share for manufacturing solar panels; now, it is only 6 percent. If we don't act now, we will wind up dependent on them for clean energy technology in the same way that we are now dependent on imported oil from the Middle East.
Virginia has seen its fair share of the downturn in the economy. The furniture factories, textile mills, the foundries are all gone. Now, we have a chance to create jobs, break our dependence on foreign oil, and help the environment -- all in a way that keeps energy costs down. Let's take it.
