Interviews with Dr. Robert Pollin from UMass Amherst

I had the first in a series of interviews with Dr. Robert Pollin from UMass Amherst’s Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute this morning, in an effort to triangulate on a central issue:

What is the precise economic impact of the migration to “new energy” – both efficiency and renewables?

We discussed how reducing the amount of energy consumed by our buildings will have a huge impact on energy consumption; lighting, heating and cooling of our buildings accounts for a huge piece — over 40% — of the total energy consumed in the US. And keep in mind that it takes 2 kilowatt-hours of energy to create 1 kilowatt of usable electricity (i.e., for every kilowatt-hour not used, you’re actually saving three.) Of course, it is unrealistic to project that every building in America will be retrofitted with energy efficient lighting and HVAC, but it were, it would provide 1.5 million jobs for 20 years. And the money spent in the process would provide a 30% return rate in terms of lower utility bills; that’s an amazing payback.

More later.