The Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) informs Illinois’ clean energy transition through research that foregrounds workers and their communities. Their work guides state climate policy to reduce emissions and promote high-quality job creation. Through research rooted in climate and economic justice, CJI envisions a clean energy future where workers and communities prosper.
The Climate Jobs Institute is growing!
After launching in 2023, we are pleased to introduce our inaugural research team.
- Professor Richard Benton, Executive Director
- Linda Larsen, Associate Director for Research
- Peter Fugiel, Senior Research Specialist (previous postdoc at LER)
- Research Specialists
- Abhinav Banthiya
- Emily Guske
- Roshan Krishnan
- Graduate Research Assistants
- Hesong Yang
- Erin Phillips
- Anukriti Mehta
CJI’s initial research is focused on assisting the State of Illinois with optimizing clean energy workforce investments, with a focus on the needs of workers and their communities.
CJI developed mapping tools to assist the state in growing the clean energy workforce and identifying clean energy infrastructure needs. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) Mapping Tool displays locations of CEJA workforce programs, clean energy employers, power plant closures, apprenticeship programs, training programs, target communities, and more. It displays existing and planned solar and wind infrastructure in Illinois and throughout the US.
Several policy briefs from CJI guide the state as it implements new clean energy workforce programs. The briefs describe how workforce programs can better align with planned solar and wind developments and job needs. These consider how accessible workforce training and job sites will be for people living in frontline communities.
Other initiatives include conducting a union labor clean energy inventory to explore how Illinois unions in the construction and building trades are engaged in clean energy activities and programs. CJI is also collaborating with researchers at the University of Illinois and elsewhere to conduct a building electrification study to inform electrification policy and implementation.
