Study: Green Policies Have Created 1.5 Million Jobs in California

California’s emphasis on energy efficiency has created more than 1.5 million jobs over the last 30 years and boosted payroll in the state by nearly $45 billion, according to a report from the University of California, Berkeley. Although state policies on greenhouse gas emissions reduced employee compensation in the electric industry by about $1.6 billion from 1977 to 2007, they have boosted compensation statewide by $44.6 billion, said David Roland-Holst, an economist at the university’s Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability. Roland-Holst, who looked at household spending during the same period, found that because they saved money on energy, consumers were able to divert dollars to other needs. “When consumers shift one dollar of demand from electricity to groceries,” the report found, it creates jobs in other sectors, including the wholesale and retail food industry.