4,000 jobs possible in renewable energy: study

WESTERN NEW YORK - Western New York could gain about 4,000 jobs over 10 years by supplying the growing renewable power industry, according to a study announced by a labor-environmental coalition in Buffalo.

The Blue-Green Alliance of the Sierra Club and United Steelworkers is calling for a national requirement of 15 percent renewable electricity by 2020. The Renewable Electricity Standard is part of the energy bill before Congress.

At a press event using the Steel Winds wind farm on Lake Erie as a backdrop, local environmental and labor advocates said policies to encourage renewable energy can help create parts-making jobs, as well as construction, assembly and maintenance work.

The study, by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, estimates the economic impact of adding 185,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity nationally over 10 years. There are 167 companies in Erie County poised to benefit by supplying wind, solar, geothermal and biomass generating industries, it said.