Landmark Report Finds Millions of Jobs Could Be Created Through Bold Stimulus

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Sierra Club released a landmark report and the Political Economy Research Institute released a new economic analysis detailing the millions of jobs that could be created by Congress passing a bold, forward-looking stimulus package in an exclusive to The Hill. The report, Millions of Good Jobs: A Plan for Economic Renewal, found that such a stimulus plan could create family-sustaining jobs for over 9 million Americans each year for the next 10 years while helping to tackle public health issues, joblessness, inequity, and the climate crisis. Even further, this bold plan would strengthen our clean energy economy with cleaner air and water, higher wages, healthier communities, and a more stable climate by enabling a 45 percent reduction in U.S. climate pollution by 2030. 

A telepresser will be held tomorrow to give further detail the report and its findings. See below for more information.

The report also details the jobs that would be created from 39 specific stimulus priorities backed by unions, environmental justice groups, and climate organizations. For example: 

• A program to exchange gas guzzlers for affordable, clean electric vehicles would yield over 635,000 jobs each year – nearly the entire population of Detroit – including over 77,000 good manufacturing jobs to produce the vehicles and components. 

• Nearly 400,000 workers could be hired each year to upgrade every public housing unit, school, hospital, and municipal building in the nation to support healthier living conditions, lower energy bills, and reduced pollution.

• Over 350,000 workers could be employed each year to replace lead pipes and secure clean drinking water. 

“With unemployment approaching Great Depression levels, now is the time for Congress to take bold action to put millions of people back to work building a healthier, more just future for all,” said Ben Beachy, the Sierra Club’s Living Economy director. “Nearly 40 million unemployed workers cannot afford Trump’s lazy fantasy that things might just ‘return to normal.’ The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare that ‘normal’ was fundamentally unjust, unhealthy, and unstable. As Trump abdicates responsibility, Congress must take the wheel and put people back to work while transforming our economy to one that fosters healthy communities and dignified livelihoods, not more crises.”

The full report and additional resources can be found on the Sierra Club’s website. 

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To learn more about the report, the Sierra Club will be hosting a telepresser tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. ET with speakers, including:

• Robert Pollin, lead author of the job estimates and Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Roxanne Brown, International Vice President at Large of the United Steelworkers  

• Jason Walsh, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance

• Rev. Mike Atty,  Executive Director of United Congregations of Metro-East and a leader in the push for the Clean Energy Jobs Act in Illinois

• Ben Beachy, the Sierra Club’s Living Economy Director and report author

Please RSVP to the telepresser by emailing cindy.carr@sierraclub.org. 

Read the Sierra Club’s report here.

Read the Political Economic Research Institute’s economic analysis here.

Read the Sierra Club’s April 2020 stimulus letter to Congress here.