WASHINGTON (March 26, 2024) – Solar panels produced in rural Ohio and Alabama. Electric cars, trucks and buses rolling off assembly lines in Georgia and Tennessee. Cutting-edge batteries coming from the Carolina foothills and the California desert.
The U.S. is at the advent of what could be the biggest economic revolution in generations — as long as lawmakers and politicians in the months ahead don’t roll back and sabotage policies powering the clean energy boom.
That’s the premise of the timely new book Clean Economy NOW: Stories from the Frontlines of an American Business Revolution (Rowman & Littlefield, 296 pp). debuting April 2 from former journalist Bob Keefe, executive director of the national nonpartisan business group E2.
Featuring a foreword by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Clean Economy NOW” takes readers from inside halls of Congress and the frenetic cobbling together of the most important climate policies in history in 2021-2022 to the noisy assembly lines and innovative laboratories now producing the building blocks of a new, cleaner economy.
It also warns what could happen if elected officials to roll back these critical policies: Lost jobs, lost investments, and lost opportunity to make America competitive in a $23 trillion global clean energy marketplace and reduce the economic cost of escalating climate disasters.
“Clean Economy NOW” could not be timelier. The U.S. House of Representatives has attempted to roll back all or parts of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other pro-growth policies driving this economic revolution more than 30 times, including as recently as two weeks ago. Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed to repeal the IRA and curtail the law’s reach if elected.
Doing so would sabotage hundreds of new manufacturing factories and other large-scale clean energy projects; hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments, and more than 100,000 new, good-paying American announced by companies building major projects, according to author Keefe. It would also hamstring America’s global competitiveness, hurt our national security, and make us even more dependent on China and other countries for batteries, solar panels, electric vehicles, and other goods. The areas that would get hurt the worst: Republican states and communities, where 60 percent of these new factories and other clean energy projects are just getting started.
With the eye of a former journalist and the perspective as the leader of an organization of more than 10,000 businesspeople who advocate nationwide for pro-growth energy and climate policies, Keefe provides never-before-released insight from the key architects of the Inflation Reduction Act. He takes readers to places like Kings Mountain, N.C. and Lithium Valley, Calif. and introduces them to the workers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and investors building the new clean economy. And he provides detailed data from E2 about the more than 200 major clean energy projects announced in just the first year of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, as well as new insights from E2’s research into the economic impacts of these projects.
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E2 is a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and professionals from every sector of the economy who advocate for smart policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment. Our members have founded or funded more than 2,500 companies, created more than 600,000 jobs, and manage more than $100 billion in venture and private equity capital. For more information, see www.e2.org or follow us on Twitter at @e2org.
Early Praise for Clean Economy NOW
“The transition to a clean economy isn’t about sacrifice. It’s about creating jobs, saving money, keeping our kids healthy and our world safe. In Clean Economy NOW, Bob Keefe lays out how America has finally gotten on a path to a brighter tomorrow – and why it would be disastrous for us to turn back now.” — GINA MCCARTHY, former White House National Climate Advisor and U.S. EPA Administrator
“As Bob Keefe details in Clean Economy NOW, we are on the cusp of a business revolution in America the likes of which we haven’t seen in generations. We can lead the world in the most important economic transition in history. The only thing that can stop it is us.” — from the foreword by former GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, 38th governor of California
“To reduce the accelerating impacts of climate change, we must boldly shift to a Clean Economy – NOW. This is the book you need to read to understand the businesses, the policies, and the economic opportunity behind the clean energy revolution, and why companies, consumers – and our planet – can’t afford for America to go backward again. — MANISH BAPNA, president and CEO, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)
“In Clean Economy NOW, Bob Keefe masterfully illustrates what Milton Freidman told us decades ago: There is power in tapping free enterprise to solve our environmental challenges. Through his in-depth look at how American businesses are responding to the climate crisis, he shows that a healthy economy and a healthy environment can – and should – go hand-in-hand.” — FORMER U.S. REP. BOB INGLIS, executive director, republicEn
“Federal and state clean energy policies are unlocking unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses across America and helping improve equity in the places most in need. Read this book and you’ll understand how and what it all means to your company, your community, and our planet.” — ARIEL FAN, founder and CEO, GreenWealth Energy
“We’re at the beginning of the business opportunity of a lifetime – and the best opportunity we have left to combat climate change, improve equity, and expand clean energy for all. To understand the connections between policy, economy, markets and trends, smart business leaders should read Clean Economy NOW.” — JON CARSON, founder and managing partner, Trajectory Energy Partners; former Chief of Staff, White House Council on Environmental Quality
“If you want to understand the once-in-a-generation opportunities of America’s clean economy revolution, read this book. As author Bob Keefe lays out, businesses are leading the way, and the only thing that can stop us now is if we make the mistake of letting smart climate investments get caught in the crosshairs of our political and cultural wars.” — BENJI BACKER, founder, American Conservation Coalition, and author, “The Conservative Environmentalist”