Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm Announces American Jobs Project, a National Initiative to Spur Job Creation in the Advanced Energy Sector
Berkeley, CA. (March 19, 2015) – Former Michigan Governor and Senior Research Fellow at the UC Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute (BECI) Jennifer Granholm today announced The American Jobs Project, a national research project focused on constructing state-specific policy and technology roadmaps to create good-paying middle-class jobs in advanced energy economic clusters. The Project is currently focused on ten key states: Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. The project is a partnership with the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).
Student researchers from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, Fung Institute at the College of Engineering, Haas School of Business, and Boalt School of Law have been working with university partners and industry allies in the ten states. These unique teams are identifying bottom-up solutions for local and state governments to pursue in conjunction with the rollout of the new EPA Clean Power Plan Rule 111(d). The American Jobs Project uses the EPA rule, which requires each state to reduce carbon pollution in their power sectors, as an opportunity for innovation and economic growth. The research teams will design roadmaps to create or enhance clusters in the advanced energy and manufacturing job sectors, based on state-specific research and customized policy recommendations.
Granholm believes that states can compete globally in advanced energy and create thousands of jobs through smart policies.
“America’s middle class is in crisis.” Governor Granholm said during her keynote address at the BECI Philomathia Symposium. “The standard old policies for job creation – laissezfaire, tax cuts, trickle down – must be significantly revamped when dealing with global competitors who are aggressive and hungry for jobs. American states should create good-paying advanced energy jobs by taking advantage of the huge global demand for products that will reduce CO2, and by helping our businesses make those products in the U.S. and export them to the world.”
The ten state-specific reports will be delivered to state policymakers, including governors, mayors, members of state legislatures, and candidates for office, in late 2015.
About The American Jobs Project
The American Jobs Project is a national research project focused on constructing state-specific policy and technology roadmaps to create good-paying middle class jobs in advanced energy economic clusters in ten different states. Led by former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, housed at UC Berkeley’s Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute and partnering with the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), the American Jobs Project is run by Berkeley graduate students in different departments including the Goldman School of Public Policy, Engineering, the Boalt School of Law, and the Haas School of Business. Beyond California, UC Berkeley has created unique partnerships with academic institutions and industry groups in the ten states. Reports detailing their findings, including policy best practices, are forthcoming this summer.
The ten states are: Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The academic partners in each state are: Dr. Alexis Abramson at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. H. Scott Matthews and Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Jennifer Sinclair Curtis at the University of Florida, Dr. Peter Adriaens at University of Michigan, Dr. Robert Boehm at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Dr. Valerie Thomas at Georgia Tech, Dr. Jerald Schnoor at University of Iowa, Steve Kalland at North Carolina State University, Representative Tom Plant at Colorado State University, and Dr. Richard Hirsch at Virginia Tech.
This project is made possible thanks to the generosity of The JPB Foundation.
Press Contact: Suzanne Merkelson, Suzanne@AmericanJobsProject.us, 908-578-5012