Press Release: NEW ECONOMIC ANALYSIS SAYS CALIFORNIA’S CLEAN TECH LEADERSHIP AT RISK
California continues to hold an edge over China and other countries as the world’s innovation leader for clean energy technology, but will fall behind if state leaders falter in their pursuit of forward-looking energy and climate policies, according to a report released today by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.
According to the analysis conducted by the Institute, a public-private partnership of business, labor, government, and higher education, California has attracted 70 percent of U.S. investment in clean tech and 50 percent of global investment. In the second quarter of 2010 alone, clean tech investment totaled $1 billion. The state, says the study, also leads the nation in clean tech jobs.
But China, as well as Germany and an array of other countries, are poised to overtake California if the state retreats on implementation of its pioneering clean energy and clean air standard, AB 32, low carbon fuel standards, and its Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS).
Other countries lead the U.S. and California in the production and sale of renewable energy equipment, and China is investing heavily in clean tech deployment. California’s challenge is to both sustain and grow its edge in venture investment and technology innovation, and capture the downstream jobs that result.
“With a strong strategy of our own to deploy clean energy, we can remain competitive with countries like China and Germany,” says R. Sean Randolph, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and author of the report. “If we fail, the state’s leadership and thousands of current and future jobs are at risk.”
According to the analysis, the reason for California’s strong position is its long-term policy direction, tremendous technology research and development capacity, and the ability to create and sustain new businesses.
“California has an entrepreneurial culture; we are better than anyone else at taking an innovative idea and turning it into a profit: from research to development to deployment,” says Randolph. “Our state has a long history of global leadership in emerging sectors, attracting venture capital investment, growing the number of new businesses, creating jobs and maintaining the state’s strong economic standing. California has the highest proportion of clean tech jobs of any U.S. state; we need to continue that momentum with aggressive policies that nurture this fast-growing industry.”
“California has become the international leader in creating clean tech jobs and businesses, but that leadership is currently being threatened by China and even Germany,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “As this study points out, to ensure that California remains at the forefront of this sector, we must continue to encourage the growth of the clean tech industry or we run the risk of other countries taking the lead in the marketplace.”
