Heat Waves, Solar Rooftops, And Renewable Energy Jobs: Climate Equity Should Guide Decarbonization

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center forecasts that about two-thirds of the continental US will likely face excessive heat in the second week of July. Twenty-five years ago, in another July heat wave, 739 people died in Chicago alone. Underprivileged, black, and elderly suffered disproportionately because they could not afford air-conditioning, as depicted in the documentary, COOKED: Survival By Zip Code.

Floods and hurricanes also disproportionately hurt low-income communities. People experiencing poverty, who are often forced to live in low-lying areas, face the brunt when rivers overflow due to extreme precipitation. Worse still, when natural disasters strike, these households, who often do not own cars, are not able to evacuate quickly, as Hurricane Katrina revealed. And the federal government disburses disaster recovery loans in ways that hurt the disadvantaged.

As is well documented, communities of color are disproportionately affected by the pollution caused by fossil fuel use, whether they live near coal-fired power plants or next to highways where they breathe in diesel and exhaust fumes. The case for rapid decarbonization is compelling because it creates first-order (direct) benefits of reduced local air pollution, less flooding, and fewer extreme weather events. Further, decarbonization creates new jobs and access to renewable energy (second-order benefits) which should help everybody as well.

This is where the decarbonization story gets complicated.

Who Benefits from Decarbonization?

In the context of first-order benefits, consider California’s Cap and Trade, which was launched in 2013. Studies show that while emissions decreased at the state level, 52% of the regulated companies actually increased pollution in facilities that were located in low-income communities. The lesson is that to measure success in pursuing climate equity, policymakers should look at micro-level data, especially at how the disadvantaged are affected. 

Inequities also exist in second-order benefits, such as creation of new jobs and access to renewable energy. Consider subsidies for electric cars. Data shows that subsidies tend to flow mainly to the rich. The reason is simple: electric cars are expensive and only the privileged can purchase them. This money could better serve climate equity if it were used to support mass transit instead.

Or take the case of rooftop solar panels. A recent paper found that there were fewer rooftop solar panels in areas with black- and Hispanic-majority populations, even when accounting for homeownership.

What about jobs in the renewable energy sector? The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine service technicians are the fastest-growing jobs in the US. As per the 2019 National Solar Job Census, in the last decade, solar employment has grown 167%, from 93,000 to nearly 250,000. However, while African Americans constitute 10% of the US workforce, they account for 8% of the solar workforce.

Addressing Inequities in the Uptake of Renewable Energy

Public policy should support equitable decarbonization. This objective is reflected in the Green New Deal and the 539-page plan released early this week by the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. However, we also need civil society actors who are willing to work in an imperfect policy environment to train those with limited access to technical education and make solar energy accessible to those being left out.

This is where nonprofits such as Elevate Energy play a key role. We came across this organization via a post on a listserv devoted to environmental issues (note: we are not employed by or benefit from this organization in any way). The debate on the listserv focused on the trade-offs in renewable energy policies. One member, Dr. Anna C. McCreery, who is a research manager at Elevate Energy, posted an inspiring email which we reproduce below (with her permission):

“My organization works on energy efficiency and clean energy with a focus on expanding access to low-income and other under-served households. ... We have a workforce development team that works to address racial and other disparities in the clean energy workforce. ... Many of the folks I’ve encountered in the environmental/green energy movements recognize there are no perfect solutions, and lower-carbon energy is still very costly to people and the planet. …In short, I’m still going to support the solutions we have, even though they are partial, imperfect, and often exacerbate other problems.”

 Anna’s email motivated us to learn more about Elevate Energy, and we had a most inspiring conversation with key members of the organization which was founded twenty years ago in Chicago and now has grown to over 130 employees. To reach its vision of bringing smarter energy use to all communities, the organization wears two hats: advocacy and service provision. As an advocate, Elevate Energy works with coalitions like the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition to advocate for 100% renewable energy. As a nonprofit, it administers Illinois Solar for All to increase solar uptake among low-income homeowners, renters, and nonprofits. The organization designs and implements bill savings programs that have helped individuals and families save over $24 million and lower their carbon footprint. It has retrofitted over 60,000 units of affordable housing.

Further, Elevate Energy addresses racial and other disparities in the clean energy workforce through training programs (with an 80% placement rate). Importantly, 81% of the trained individuals are people of color. Of course, Elevate Energy alone cannot address the challenge of providing equitable access to solar or workforce training. But the organization is trying and making a difference – and this is what should count. Instead of merely waiting for the perfect policy to emerge, Elevate Energy is willing to work in an imperfect world to make it better.

Embedded Environmentalism and Just Transition

The job retraining issue is also salient in the context of communities that were dependent on the carbon economy. As the coal industry is collapsing (with bankrupt companies hurting workers further by reneging on their pension commitments), many local communities are suffering.

This is where the National Economic Transition Platform comes in. It was recently launched by 80 organizations to support communities hurt by the collapse of the coal industry. The “just transition” has an economic, political, and moral logic. Without a system to support local communities and retrain them to work in non-coal sectors, a war on coal becomes a war on coal communities. This means embedding environmentalism in a new institutional framework where climate progress, including new jobs, begins to benefit all.  The European Union is devoting a sizeable portion of its Green Deal Investment Plan budget to help coal-dependent regions to make this transition. Germany has outlined a strategy in the Final Report of the Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employment. Groups such as the BlueGreen Alliance are linking climate action to new jobs. The Labor Network for Sustainability is emphasizing the welfare of miners in climate policy.

To conclude, climate equity requires focusing on both first- and second-order decarbonization benefits. Without this focus, social inequity will get reproduced in a decarbonized economy. But we cannot rely solely on the government to provide a perfect policy environment. We need to become agents of change. Grassroots initiatives, such as Elevate Energy and the National Economic Transition, show a pathway through which climate protection and social equity can be pursued as joint goals.