There is an ongoing, slow erosion of the economy. . . Even as the burdens of growing waste and the cost of climate change continue to grow. The good news is that the Biden Infrastructure Plan is a step forward that might bolster our lagging infrastructure and weakened economy to a positive benefit. But it is just a down payment on the scale of effort needed if we are to succeed as a nation. Indeed, as a global economy!
It is decidedly time we took a fresh look at the economics of job creation. And if we do so? Then we will find that investments in energy efficiency, clean renewable energy, other energy productivity upgrades, as well as decarbonization improvements can all create a larger and more sustainable number of jobs. Yes, the new employment opportunities include construction and manufacturing jobs as well as the many jobs created when the energy bill savings are spent locally.
At this time of year there normally would be a burst and a profusion of newly greened textures throughout the landscape of the Sonoran Desert. The monsoon rains from last year, and the early spring rains this year would have
All interactions of matter involve, and indeed require, energy. This is true whether the many different energy flows drive earthquakes, enable the movement of planets, or spark the various biological and industrial processes at work anywhere in the world. It
I call it the Blue-Green-Red Resource Squeeze on the American economy. It is neither a perfect nor a straightforward comparison, but it does result in what I think is a rather eerie warning. It is the kind of warning we
In 2019, the 331 million people living within the United States spent an estimated $1.2 trillion to meet their combined needs for an array of energy services (EIA 2020). That is equivalent to an economy-wide per capita energy bill of about
Published by – The National Council for Science and the Environment Since 1950 the U.S. population has more than doubled. It has grown from an estimated 152 million people to perhaps as many as 329 million inhabitants today. Real per capita
By: John A. “Skip” Laitner In 2017, businesses, households, and government enterprises throughout the global economy spent an estimated €6.4 trillion to meet the many demands for various energy services. Current projections suggest the present scale of annual expenditures may
John A. “Skip” Laitner According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States will spend ~$1.1 trillion in 2017 for its many uses of energy — whether for heat, electricity, or for transportation needs. At the same time,
John A. “Skip” Laitner The idea of stranded assets—that is, existing investments which have substantially less financial value as the result of market conditions impacted by climate change and/or the transition to a low carbon economy—is receiving greater attention in
There is neither a law of physics nor economics that prevents us from quadrupling the productive use of energy and other resources. Rather, it is much more an issue of imagination and our political will to get it done.
– John A. “Skip” Laitner