Accelerating Job Growth and an Equitable Low-Carbon Energy Transition: The Role of the Clean Energy Accelerator
White Paper, 2021
To assist US federal policy makers who consider supporting a national green bank as part of a recovery package to address economic, environmental, and other crises, Senior Advisor Susan F. Tierney and Principal Paul J. Hibbard have written a white paper that examines the potential of a federally authorized Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator. This new nonprofit corporation, which would catalyze but not compete with private capital, could be funded by Congress to combat causes and effects of climate change through rapid deployment and scaling of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It would also fast-track economic development and enable climate-impacted communities to benefit from projects and investments.
In Accelerating Job Growth and an Equitable Low-Carbon Energy Transition: The Role of the Clean Energy Accelerator, Dr. Tierney and Mr. Hibbard argue that the Accelerator could provide near-term and long-term benefits to the US economy, health, and welfare by targeting stimulus investments to support an equitable transition of the energy sector to low- and zero-carbon technologies. The Accelerator would complement other policy options to combat climate change which may include tax incentives, grant programs, and loan guarantee programs. The Accelerator could help leverage private investment and other public funding to support projects such as modernizing low- and moderate-income homes and financing electrification of municipal bus fleets.
The white paper, commissioned by the Coalition for Green Capital, provides an overview of the Accelerator’s mandate, mission, organization, and governance, and describes how it would conduct its work. The paper describes how the Accelerator could stimulate near-term clean-energy investment, job creation, and invest in projects that reduce GHG emissions.
Dr. Tierney and Mr. Hibbard’s white paper is part of a project that included a companion paper prepared by a team from The Brattle Group. The Analysis Group paper focuses on the institutional features of a new Accelerator, and how it would fit into a relief package’s economic, equity, clean-energy, and climate objectives. The Brattle Group paper focuses on longer-term issues relating to the Accelerator.
View the full Analysis Group white paper
View the summary for policy makers