The Hill: “Biden Makes Case That Climate, Labor Interests Can Go Hand in Hand as Auto Strike Fuels Attacks”
A story about the relationship between climate action and jobs quotes RFF Fellow Daniel Raimi, who references his recent work on the labor needs for clean energy.
The labor consequences of this are complicated — as some industries will see a decline, but others will grow. But the skills required for the clean energy jobs are not always directly transferable, and the locations where workers are needed may differ.
“On net, ambitious climate policies will probably create more jobs than they destroy, but that’s cold comfort if you’re working in a coal-fired power plant or producing oil in West Texas,” said Daniel Raimi, director of equity in the energy transition initiative at climate think tank Resources for the Future.
“Most clean energy workers are not going to be coming directly from the fossil fuel industry,” he added. “The geographies and the skills are not lined up very nicely to do that.”
