Green jobs for fossil fuel workers
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Prof. Michaël Aklin, head of the chair of Policy and Sustainability (PASU) published a column at VoxEU on the clean energy transition and labor market challenges for fossil fuel workers, showing why transitioning from fossil fuel to green jobs is unlikely without proactive public policy.
In the absence of effective and cost-competitive carbon capture or removal technologies, a near complete phaseout of fossil fuels will be required to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This column evaluates two labour market frictions that could slow down the fossil-to-green transition in the US: skills and geography. The findings suggest that the fossil-to-green pipeline is feasible, but only if the green jobs materialise near areas where fossil fuel workers live.