Working Papers & Publications
Addressing the Employment Impacts of AB32, California's Global Warming Solutions Act 
by Carol Zabin and Andrea Buffa, February 2009
This policy brief analyzes the job impacts of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, and highlights the policy design options that can best promote both lower greenhouse gas emissions and good jobs.
Climate Action, Energy Efficiency, and Job Creation in California
by David Roland-Holst, September 2008
California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: A Background Paper for Labor Unions
By Andrea Buffa, Carol Zabin, Cheryl Brown, and David Graham-Squire at the Center for Labor Research and Education, UC Berkeley, with assistance of Tim Rainey, Peter Cooper, and Martha Bader of the Workforce and Economic Development Program, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
August 2008
This background paper analyzes AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, a landmark law which aims to dramatically reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions. The paper focuses on AB 32’s potential impact on California jobs and workers, and highlights ways that California labor unions can influence the implementation process to promote both lower emissions and good jobs.
Macroeconomic Impacts for the State Alternative-Fuels Plan
by Peter Berck, November 2007
Abstract: We examined the impact on California real output, employment, and personal income of three potential scenarios for increasing the use of alternative fuels in California. The scenarios are those described in the report of the California Energy Commission (State Alternative-fuels Plan, October, 2007, Section 5). The method used to evaluate these scenarios was a computable general equilibrium model (Environmental-Dynamic Revenue Analysis Model). The model was calibrated to project the economic conditions of California for the years 2012, 2017, 2022, 2030, and 2050. The economic effects of the three alternative-fuel scenarios were estimated for each of those base years and compared to the conditions that would be obtained in the absence of policy. The effect on individuals of different incomes and the effect on employment by income class were also calculated. Results were also presented on an industry basis for the most affected industries. The results were tested for sensitivity to increased gas prices, and estimates were made of the cost to the economy of raising the state funds needed to carry out the policies.