More than $9 billion and 41,000 jobs have been added to the Inland economy as a result of California’s climate change initiatives, a new study found.

And the indirect effect of that spending supported more than 73,000 jobs and $14.2 billion in economic activity in the Inland Empire from 2010 to 2016, according to the study commissioned by Next 10.

“The report indicates that overall, policies including cap and trade, the renewable portfolio standard, as well as energy-efficiency and distributed solar programs, are contributing jobs and benefits,” Next 10 founder and venture capitalist F. Noel Perry said in a news release.

An Inland economist, however, takes issue with some of the study’s findings. John Husing, chief economist with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, said it doesn’t adequately address the impact of higher costs caused by climate change programs on low-income residents.

A nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in San Francisco, Next 10 focuses on economic, environmental and quality-of-life issues.

The study comes about two weeks after California lawmakers narrowly approved extending the state’s Cap-And-Trade program to 2030. The program sells credits, or licenses to pollute, with the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Cap-and-trade’s supporters consider the program an essential tool in the quest to stop climate change from endangering humanity. Critics say cap-and-trade harms businesses and families who will bear the brunt of higher gasoline prices spurred by the program.

The Inland Empire is a unique testing ground for climate change policies. Its roughly 4 million residents tend to be poorer with longer commutes than other Californians, and the region’s air quality is among the nation’s worst.

At the same time, the region’s vast expanse of open land, strong winds and constant sunshine make for prime real estate for solar and wind projects. The Inland Empire already is hotter on average than California’s coastal areas, and the prospect of rising global temperatures could fuel more intense wildfires in a region brimming with bone-dry vegetation.

Next 10’s study is billed as the first-ever look at the effect of climate change policies on the Inland economy. Researchers wanted to study the Inland Empire because the region’s challenges are similar to those in other states, Betony Jones, the report’s lead author, said by phone.

Jones is associate director of the Green Economy Program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. Her center, along with the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at Berkeley’s law school and an economist at Colorado State University-Pueblo, put together the study.

Net benefits

The study looked at cap and trade, renewable energy development and programs promoting solar panels and energy efficiency to determine whether they help or harm the economies of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

From 2010 to 2016, climate change policies had a net positive impact of $9.1 billion to the Inland economy with 41,284 jobs created directly as a result of those policies, the study found. The biggest gains – $8.3 billion and 29,255 jobs – came in the construction of renewable energy plants.

The deserts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties have seen a boom in renewable energy development since 2010. The Ivanpah solar plant, with its 352,000 mirrors, went online in the Mojave Desert in 2013, and two solar plants near Blythe representing $1.2 billion in investment started producing electricity in November.

San Bernardino and Riverside counties are now home to 17 percent of the state’s renewable energy capacity, providing enough power for 2.6 million homes, the study found.

After accounting for compliance costs, cap-and-trade created $25.7 million for the Inland economy to go with 154 jobs between 2013 and 2016, according to the study. Programs to encourage homes and businesses become more energy-efficient or install solar panels supported 12,000 jobs and led to $1.68 billion in economic activity, the study found.

It wasn’t all good news. Inland companies involved in generating power through fossil fuels lost $1.7 billion in sales and shed more than 1,100 jobs from 2010 to 2016, the study determined.

Husing, the Inland economist, said the study “did not look at the impact of higher costs on the quality of life of the poorest citizens of the Inland Empire.

“One of the problems I see with most of these programs, particularly Cap and Trade – they don’t examine what will take place to folks who are marginally educated whose jobs will be eliminated” by higher costs imposed on industries like logistics and manufacturing, Husing said.

A similar reaction to the study came from state Sen. Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, a cap-and-trade critic.

The executive summary, Morrell said, points out that approximately 44 percent of Inland workers commute 30 minutes to work and many commute outside the region.

“Cap and trade will eventually increase the price of gasoline by as much as 73 cents per gallon,” he said. “This coupled with the governor’s gas tax increase of approximately 19 cents per gallon will create a huge burden on those workers and their families.”

Diesel fuel prices also will rise through cap-and-trade, Morrell said, adding that te program “creates a slush fund with billions going towards high speed rail and other non-essential projects.“

“This will help some industries, but for the majority of our region, it will only bring pain at the pump.”

While building renewable energy plants and installing solar panels in homes creates construction jobs, “the fact of the matter is, that’s pretty much a one-time shot,” Husing said, adding there aren’t many jobs to maintain those plants and panels.

Also, when you break down the number of jobs created through climate change programs by year, it only amounts to a few thousand jobs annually, Husing added.

To make sure climate change programs continue helping the Inland Empire, the study suggests dispensing proceeds for cap-and-trade auctions “in a timely and predictable manner and (ensuring) that the Inland Empire receives an appropriate level of statewide spending based on its economic and environmental needs.”

Workers displaced by the decline of businesses that emit greenhouse gases need job training and placement help, the study added.

Those are good recommendations and “they would be great if they took place,” Husing said. “Historically, they haven’t.”

CLIMATE BOON

A new study concludes that California’s climate change policies are a net benefit to the Inland economy.

$9.1 billion: The direct economic benefit to the Inland Empire from 2010 to 2016.

41,284: The number of Inland jobs created from 2010 to 2016 directly as a result of climate change-related investment.

2.6 million: The number of homes powered by renewable energy projects in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Source: “The Next Economic Impacts of California’s Major Climate Programs in the Inland Empire.”