| Energy Policy Act of 2003
Clears Conference Committee Energy bill fuels newly revved economy, Domenici says Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today called the Energy Policy Act of 2003 a “jobs bill” that will create nearly 1 million new jobs, further stimulating a booming economy. Domenici’s statement: “This energy bill will create nearly 1 million new jobs. The conventional wisdom has been that ANWR is the big jobs engine and that without ANWR, there won’t be a lot of jobs from this bill. The conventional wisdom is wrong. This bill doesn’t include ANWR, but we’ve still documented nearly 1 million direct and indirect jobs that will be created by the Energy Policy Act of 2003. “This bill creates jobs in virtually every segment of the economy. The investment we are making in coal technologies will create 62,000 jobs, including 10,000 research jobs in the fields of math, engineering, physics and science at an estimated annual salary of $125,000. It will also make our environment cleaner. “The $2.15 billion we are investing in hydrogen research will create more than 2,000 jobs in math, science and engineering. These jobs will all pay in excess of $100,000. This investment also moves us closer to the day when this society is a carbon-free society. “With this bill, we are creating new manufacturing jobs, new construction jobs and new mining jobs. The Alaska natural gas pipeline, alone, will create 38,000 new jobs. Extending the renewable production tax credits will help create more than 100,000 new jobs in wind, solar and geothermal energy. The ethanol provision, alone, will create more than 200,000 jobs across all segments of the economy. Our nuclear provisions will protect 61,800 jobs and create more than 25,000 new jobs. “Our economy this fall grew faster than its grown in 20 years. Now comes an energy bill that guarantees that this recovery will be a recovery rich in jobs, rich in opportunity and rich in abundant and affordable energy for all Americans.” The creation of 838,500 jobs are detailed below: Natural Gas and Coal More than 400,000 direct and indirect new jobs will be created through the construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, while at the same time bringing an affordable energy supply to the Lower 48 states (Source: BP). 38,000 direct jobs, 80,000 indirect jobs and an estimated 400,000 jobs from the multiplier effect. America’s substantial investment in clean coal technology creates 62,000 jobs and ensures Americans new electricity that is abundant, reliable, affordable and cleaner than ever before. (Coal Utilization Research Council.) 40,000 new construction jobs created by the construction of approximately 27 large clean coal plants 12,000 full-time, permanent jobs related to plant operation 10,000 research jobs in the fields of math, engineering, physics and science at an estimated annual salary of $125,000. Renewable Fuel Standard The renewable fuel standard in the bill will create more 214,000 new jobs and expand household income by an additional $51.7 billion over the next decade. (Renewable Fuel Association.) Nuclear Energy Building a first-of-its-kind nuclear reactor to co-generate hydrogen will create 3,000 construction jobs and 500 long-term, high-paying, high-tech jobs. (Nuclear Energy Institute) Nuclear production tax credits will spur the construction of approximately 6 light-water nuclear reactors for a total of 8,400 megawatts of clean and affordable energy. This construction will create between 12,000 and 18,000 jobs. Running the plants will create more than 9,000 high-paying, high-tech jobs. (Nuclear Energy Institute) The Price Anderson renewal in the bill would protect 61,800 jobs at 103 plants nationwide (Nuclear Energy Institute). Renewables Incentives for geothermal energy will bring between 350 and 500 Megawatts of clean and renewable geothermal energy online over the next three years. This will create between 750 and 1000 direct jobs and between 7,500 and 10,000 indirect jobs. (Geothermal Energy Association). Incentives for solar energy will assist in creating 20,000 new jobs in the solar energy industry by 2010. (The Solar Energy Institute Association.) Biomass provisions will put 1,000 people back to work in at least 20 biomass plants from New York to California that have recently been idled. Incentives for wind will help create an estimated 5,285 new megawatts of clean and renewable power through 2007. Each new megawatt of wind energy creates between 15-19 direct and indirect jobs, for an estimated 100,000 new jobs through 2007. (American Wind Energy Association, European Wind Energy Association.) |