Original_To:  JNET%"biosph-l@ubvm"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.biosph-l
Date:         Mon, 13 Apr 1992 14:17:00 MDT
Reply-To:     MARTINEZ@UNMB.BITNET
From:         MARTINEZ@UNMB.BITNET
Subject:      Jobs versus the environment

JOBS VS. ENVIRONMENT; FACTS VS.FICTION

The following was taken from an article by Ken Hughes, Energy
Issues Coordinator for the Sierra Club in New Mexico.

No greater excuse is used to justify starting a dirty industry or
not complying with environmental regulations than jobs. A false
dichotomy is set up between how to create jobs and what is good for
the environment, as if the two are mutually exclusive. The truth is
that economic growth, and thereby the number of people obtaining
decent employment, is dependent on a healthy environment and
efficient use of resources. Let's look at some facts.

Energy - It costs an average well over $100,000 to create a job in
electric generation vs. under $25,000 for a job in the solar field,
even less for energy conservation jobs. And jobs in renewable
resources (like solar energy) and conservation do not call for
specialized personnel, instead, these alternatives call on skills
that are readily found in any community - plumbing, carpentry,
electrical, and construction workers are in the biggest demand.

If the U.S. committed itself to a complete integration of
conservation and renewable resources in our energy production,
three million net new jobs would be created - both directly and
from the new monies generated from paying lower utility bills.

Pollution Control - Pollution control amounts to 2.5 percent of the
total jobs in the U.S. The $100 billion spent on pollution control
in 1988 created or supported almost 3 million jobs.

In contrast, big energy users and polluters are skimpy when it
comes to jobs. Five industries - primary metals, paper, oil
refining, chemicals and stone and glass - use 80 percent of the
energy and emit 85 percent of the toxins in the manufacturing
sector. Yet, they only account for 17 percent of its employment.
Overall, they use one fifth of the nation's energy but only provide
3 percent of the jobs.

Recycling - About 2,000 jobs are created for every million tons of
waste recycled. Over 30,000 people are working in the aluminum
recycling industry, according to Alcoa, twice the number producing
raw aluminum. Increasing the rate to 75 percent could yield 375,000
jobs in the U.S., according to Jim Quigley of Queens College.

Public Land Protection - A 1992 Wilderness Society study analysis
of the Yellowstone National Park region found that four-fifths of
the new jobs and two-thirds of personal income increases in the
past 20 years stemmed from service industries. By contrast, federal
subsidies of mining and logging in the region account for four
percent of the new jobs and eleven percent of the growth.

Another study by the Wilderness Society shows that for every 1
million board feet of whole logs exported by the U.S. to Japan and
China, 4 to 5 jobs are lost. A recent Federal Forest Service/BLM
report, which the Bush administration tried to suppress, suggests
that a ban on shipping raw logs abroad would generate some 15,000
jobs in the U.S.


In summary, public decision makers constantly need to weigh what is
good for a particular economic activity and the overall economy.
One can conclude that with respect to job creation and economic
growth, adding in environmental considerations is a winner.

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|Marcos Martinez  | Onate Hall         | Bitnet:               |
|News Director    | University of NM   |  "martinez@unmb"      |
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