In Brief:
Energy is the oxygen that sustains economies and 80 percent of new capacity added to the world’s electricity system last year came from clean energy. Bob Keefe, the author of the new book Clean Economy Now, wants more Americans to recognize that this transition is bringing explosive economic growth to the country. Not in the future, but now.
Keefe is the executive director of the nonprofit E2. Its members — a nonpartisan group of more than 10,000 investors, business leaders and professionals — are convinced that economic growth and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. As proof, they have founded or funded thousands of companies, and created more than 600,000 jobs.
“We showed that we could have the best and toughest environmental laws and still have the best and strongest economy in the country,” Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican former governor of California, writes in his foreword to Keefe's book.
E2 has created a tracker of private-sector investments in energy production and manufacturing since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022. In a conversation with Governing, Keefe talks about the states where investments are landing.
Governing: What's the biggest takeaway from your book?
Bob Keefe: We're at the advent of one of the biggest economic revolutions we've seen in this country in generations. It's happening because America finally got serious about doing something about climate change.
The problem is that not enough people realize what is happening. They don't know what the heck the IRA is, they don't necessarily see the growth in the clean economy that's happening everywhere in the country.
I'm hoping that people who read this book will walk away with a better understanding of this tremendous opportunity. I wish more people would understand that the policy is working, the IRA is working.
Governing: Why isn’t that well-known already?
Keefe: Local papers and local media outlets might cover the ribbon cutting of a new project, but they don't put in the scope and sweep of what made it happen.
I keep thinking back to previous economic transitions. When railroads went West, teams of reporters would go with the railroad companies, document this great expansion and put it in the frame of opening a new world.
Governing: What’s the “new world” in this case?
Keefe: More than 300 major clean energy projects have been announced all over the country — EV [electric vehicle] factories, battery factories, solar panel factories, offshore and onshore wind farms, hydrogen plants. When is the last time that America's had 300 major factories and other projects coming out of the ground?
It's not just the incentives. A fundamental purpose of policy is that it sends the market signal for businesses for investors to invest. Since the IRA was passed, $120 billion worth of private-sector investment has been announced, 100,000 jobs. And more to come.
Governing: If a new administration has less enthusiasm for this kind of activity, could it slow down?
Keefe: It’s a good question. I don't know the answer.
I'll give you an example. Not long ago, I was in Washington meeting with a Republican member of Congress from Georgia. I was with the director for a battery company that has announced a $2 billion battery factory in Georgia that will create something like 700 jobs. The lawmaker’s staff were saying, “You're hearing a lot about us rolling back the IRA — but we also realize that this is creating jobs, so we don't think you have to worry that much about it.”
The CEO replied, “That's good to know. What you need to know is that every time we hear there's another attempt to scale back the IRA in Congress, every time we hear something on the campaign trail about killing incentives for electric vehicles or solar, that makes it harder for my company to get financing.”
If opponents to these policies take office and do what they say they're going to do, that's going to be very unfortunate. Not for tree huggers in San Francisco or New York, but for working folks in places like Georgia, Michigan and Ohio, where these projects are happening.
Governing: Explain why that's happening.
Keefe: Unlike previous transitions, this isn't limited to a particular geography or geology or demographic. The Internet boom was mainly in Silicon Valley. The advent of the auto industry in America was mainly in Detroit. The 300-plus projects that have been announced since the IRA are happening in something like 42 states, almost every state in the country.
They’re happening regardless of politics. Sixty percent are in Republican congressional districts. When you look at total investment, 70 percent is in Republican congressional districts. Almost 80 percent of the jobs are in Republican congressional districts. This from a policy that was passed solely by Democrats.
Governing: How does this benefit states with struggling economies?
Keefe: We've been offshoring manufacturing jobs from America. Right now, China controls 80 percent of the solar panel business. Because of the IRA, we’ve got nearly 40 solar-related factories in the works in America. China controls about 80 percent of the battery market as well, 90 percent for some components. We've got almost 40 battery factories now coming out of the ground.
For the first time, we have an opportunity to build this stuff here, to hopefully circumvent China and other countries from becoming the Saudi Arabia of clean energy in the future.
It doesn’t take a genius to see where markets are going. The cheapest power that you can get anywhere in America, and most of the rest of the world, is solar or wind. Where do we get the parts and equipment to harness the solar and the wind? Right now, we're tied to China and other countries.
Governing: What about export potential?
Bob Keefe: The International Energy Agency has estimated there is a $23 trillion global marketplace for clean energy and clean energy projects. Until now we didn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to competing in that $23 trillion global market because we weren't building this stuff in America.
