Research on Rural Economic Benefits of Climate Policy

Note: This training has been shifted forward half an hour later (beginning 8:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm PT) to allow time for a Reconciliation/Legislative Update and Q&A with Tony Sirna on the same Zoom line!

It turns out that strong climate policy, similar to the Energy Innovation Act, would provide substantial economic benefits to America’s rural communities. Wind and solar energy would expand dramatically, and construction and maintenance of these renewable projects would bring jobs and money to communities in need of the boost. Further, over 80% of the financial benefits would flow to Districts currently held by Republicans! CCL has worked with consultants to generate estimates of the direct annual revenue accruing to each District as a result of a policy similar to a carbon tax, and we’ve produced a two-page summary handout explaining the benefit for each (similar to the Household Impact Study). 

Join Jerry Hinkle, CCL Research Coordinator, for a training on CCL district-specific research that estimates the annual direct revenue accruing to each district from the renewable energy build-out that would result from strong climate policy. This analysis synthesizes the recent reporting done by RMI and work from UPenn Researcher Kevin Ummel, and it demonstrates that renewable energy development offers significant rural America economic development opportunities.