(
Green Economy Initiative) The online map provides a mapping of renewable energy and energy efficient businesses and their supply chains.
The map identified more than 1,200 companies in key manufacturing states that are
poised to create new green jobs.
A telephone-based survey of business leaders on the topic of renewable energy and energy efficient products and services was conducted by Frost & Sullivan.
The objectives of this market research were:
- To gain an understanding about which companies are doing well and those companies that would benefit from new global warming pollution legislation.
- To identify companies that have experienced sales increases in the past one to two years and the reasons for those increases.
- To identify how companies perceive they would benefit from new global warming legislation.
“Until now, there was no tangible evidence of what the jobs are, how they are created and what it means for U.S. workers. We are providing that here,”
said Gary Gereffi, a Duke professor of sociology and lead author of the report. “We don’t guess where the jobs are; we name them. Our report uses value chains to show that clean technology jobs are also real economy jobs.”
“Meeting the challenge of climate change will ramp up the supply chains that wind their way through the heart of American manufacturing,” said Jackie Roberts, director of sustainable technology at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), one of the report’s sponsors. “It’s concrete evidence of the link between U.S. jobs and climate solutions.”
“While some seek to pit the environment against economic growth, we see economic opportunity in the solutions to the climate crisis,” added Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, another one of the report’s sponsors. “But, to succeed it means making certain that, from production to construction, these green investments are made in the U.S. That is the best way to assure that their positive ripple effects are felt throughout the entire economy.”
“This report shows that each climate solution creates significant positive ripple effects throughout the economy in the labor and materials needed to supply low carbon technologies and products,” said Abraham Breehey, director of legislative affairs for the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, also a report co-sponsor. “It demonstrates the real economic opportunity in the solutions to the climate crisis.”
Case studies of companies considered in the market research include:
- Axion Power International - Newcastle, PA; advanced batteries and energy storage components
- Azure Dynamics - Detroit; electric and hybrid-electric drive technology for light- to heavy-duty commercial vehicles
- Cree, Inc. - Durham, N.C.; LED lighting, semiconductor materials
- Enertek Solutions - Portland, OR; electric auxiliary power units
- First Solar - Perrysburg, OH; thin film solar modules
- Fuhrlander - Butte, MT; wind turbines
- Gamesa - Langhorne, PA (North America headquarters); wind turbine manufacturer
- Hemlock Semiconductor - Hemlock, MI; polycrystalline silicon (material used to make solar cells)
- IdleAire Technologies - Knoxville, TN; idle-reduction services to the trucking industry
- Insulspan - Blissfield, MI; manufacturer of structural insulated panels
- Owens Corning - Toledo, OH; building materials and composite systems
- Profile: Jeff Metts, Dowding Machining - Eaton Rapids, MI, wind turban parts
- Serious Materials - Sunnyvale, CA, super-insulating windows
- SunRise Solar - St. John, IN; solar-powered attic fans; profile of President Bill Keith
- Vestas Wind Systems - Headquarters - Randers, Denmark; North American Headquarters - Portland, Oregon; wind turbine manufacturer
