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Saturday, March 06, 2010
EIB Needs To Cap Emissions
By Rusty Schmit
President and CEO, CleanSwitch
A petition to cap carbon emissions in New Mexico is currently before the Environmental Improvement Board. The main argument against this cap is that limiting carbon emissions would hurt our economy and cost New Mexicans jobs. As someone who has led solar energy companies in the United States and Europe, including Advent Solar in Albuquerque, I know the opposite to be the case.
When I began working in the solar industry in 1980, the U.S. was the leader in solar energy technology. Companies such as Motorola, Exxon, Tyco and other industrial leaders were working in the field, but in the 1990s the industry leadership shifted to Japan. Why? Because the Japanese implemented policies that put them on a path to greater energy independence and reduced carbon emissions.
Then, in the 2000s, the industrial center of solar energy shifted to Germany. Tens of thousands of jobs were created in Japan and Germany — hundreds of thousands across Europe —because of policies implemented in those countries to regulate carbon emissions and promote renewable energy. To give a personal example, at that time I was running a solar manufacturing plant in France and employment at that plant grew from 70 to nearly 400 during my three-year tenure. Today, leadership in the solar industry has shifted again. China is now the top producer of solar products, and the gap between the U.S. and China is growing rapidly.
While this is a global issue, the ramifications are felt here at home. In an example of the impact on jobs here in New Mexico, Advent Solar recently was sold to a large semiconductor technology company, and all of Advent's equipment was packed up and shipped to China. Though the technology was developed at Sandia National Labs with U.S. taxpayer money, and then commercialized here in New Mexico with private investment, the technology is now being re-established in China for deployment there and around the world. This is a direct loss to our state of hundreds of jobs.
Those who say that carbon emission regulation would cause job loss often cite studies that look at only a few industry segments that may, in fact, suffer some job loss. But these studies typically do not take into account jobs that already are being created in clean energy industries, nor do they consider the expected surge in new energy jobs that will be created with effective carbon emission regulation.
A study by the Center for American Progress estimates that implementation of a carbon cap will create 15,000 jobs in New Mexico, and that a $1 million investment in clean technology creates three times the number of jobs as the same investment in carbon energy technology. These are the facts about job creation, and they should dispel the myths being promulgated by some.
We cannot afford to wait for a national carbon emission reduction program to emerge from Congress — we must move forward now. This is not about condemning the industries creating the emissions, but rather creating a framework to meet our energy needs in a sustainable way. The Environmental Improvement Board should take action to reduce carbon emissions. This will help to make our state a leader in the new energy economy and will lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs.
CleanSwitch is a solar power design and installation company based in Albuquerque.
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