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Time to invest in green technologies
By Dave Bing and Kathleen Rogers |
May 28, 2011, Saturday
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LIKE so many cities across the United States, Detroit has suffered job losses as a result of the global recession, compounded by the effects of economic globalization.
Many of the jobs Detroit lost will never return. Now is the time for more innovative solutions, not despair.
Why? Because, although 2010 census data indeed show Detroit's population declining drastically in the past decade, young people are beginning to move here again because they see opportunity.
They see that Detroit has the potential to be a leader in the new green economy. It is an international border city and a domestic transportation hub. It has affordable housing, large fresh water supplies, and a long waterfront, assets that make it attractive to businesses and immigrants.
In fact, our potential has not gone unnoticed and we are beginning to see successes, such as our car battery plant for the Chevy Volt and new solar panel installation companies.
A report published by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth in 2010 showed southeastern Michigan with over 67,000 "green" jobs, a majority of which were concentrated in Detroit and count among its most dynamic. The report defined green jobs as "jobs directly or indirectly involved in generating a firm's green-related products or services."
This modest success could be just the beginning. According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust, US clean-energy jobs grew by 9.1 percent in the past decade, achieving a double bottom line of economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Unfortunately, many of our national political leaders don't grasp the magnitude that greening the economy is a key component of both job creation and stable economic growth. They continue to favor old line industry over 21st-century sectors.
Consequently, as we saw in the most recent Pew Charitable Trusts Clean Energy Report, American private equity investment in clean energy already lags behind its Asian and European counterparts in relative terms. China, not the US, leads the world in overall clean-energy financing and investment, pouring an estimated US$34 billion into the industry. The federal government has a responsibility to act sooner rather than later.
We need to address the structural challenges facing our economy: dependence on oil from the increasingly volatile Middle East and the flight of high-skilled labor and competition from cities like Detroit to emerging markets.
We can start by expanding the Obama Administration's investments and incentives for investments in clean technologies and renewable energy. Detroit can be a leader in green manufacturing, battery technology, and creative uses for under-utilized land.
(Bing is the mayor of Detroit, Michigan. Rogers is the president of Earth Day Network. Copyright: American Forum. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
Many of the jobs Detroit lost will never return. Now is the time for more innovative solutions, not despair.
Why? Because, although 2010 census data indeed show Detroit's population declining drastically in the past decade, young people are beginning to move here again because they see opportunity.
They see that Detroit has the potential to be a leader in the new green economy. It is an international border city and a domestic transportation hub. It has affordable housing, large fresh water supplies, and a long waterfront, assets that make it attractive to businesses and immigrants.
In fact, our potential has not gone unnoticed and we are beginning to see successes, such as our car battery plant for the Chevy Volt and new solar panel installation companies.
A report published by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth in 2010 showed southeastern Michigan with over 67,000 "green" jobs, a majority of which were concentrated in Detroit and count among its most dynamic. The report defined green jobs as "jobs directly or indirectly involved in generating a firm's green-related products or services."
This modest success could be just the beginning. According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust, US clean-energy jobs grew by 9.1 percent in the past decade, achieving a double bottom line of economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Unfortunately, many of our national political leaders don't grasp the magnitude that greening the economy is a key component of both job creation and stable economic growth. They continue to favor old line industry over 21st-century sectors.
Consequently, as we saw in the most recent Pew Charitable Trusts Clean Energy Report, American private equity investment in clean energy already lags behind its Asian and European counterparts in relative terms. China, not the US, leads the world in overall clean-energy financing and investment, pouring an estimated US$34 billion into the industry. The federal government has a responsibility to act sooner rather than later.
We need to address the structural challenges facing our economy: dependence on oil from the increasingly volatile Middle East and the flight of high-skilled labor and competition from cities like Detroit to emerging markets.
We can start by expanding the Obama Administration's investments and incentives for investments in clean technologies and renewable energy. Detroit can be a leader in green manufacturing, battery technology, and creative uses for under-utilized land.
(Bing is the mayor of Detroit, Michigan. Rogers is the president of Earth Day Network. Copyright: American Forum. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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