With the renewable energy sector, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Promoting a green economy will not only slow the devastating effects of climate change, it will also generate a wealth of much-needed jobs, said Tony Billera, Whidbey Island’s chapter team leader for the Citizens Climate Lobby.

“This is really about shifting people to buy products that are good for the economy and good for job growth,” Billera said.

Billera and others from the Whidbey Island chapter will gather at the Clinton ferry dock at noon Sunday, Aug. 21 for an outreach event aimed at educating the public on climate change and its potential solutions.

“We feel like the public is confused and not really aware, not really educated on the issue,” Billera said. “We hope to be able to speak to people and hand out information so they can go discover the accurate information themselves.”

Billera is certain that many of the dramatic weather events the world has experienced lately — including the record-setting rainfall in New York City over a recent weekend — are related to the warming of the atmosphere.

“We’re going to see more and more of this around the world,” he said. “We’re well beyond whether this is a question. It’s just a matter of how severe and how fast.”

The Citizens Climate Lobby promotes a piece of national legislation called Carbon Fee and Dividend, which would apply fees on carbon-based fuels, then return the revenue to U.S. households.

“It sends a signal to the market,” Billera said. “By making fossil fuels effectively a price that represents the cost to society, it will shift people to renewable energy.”

Renewable energy jobs are higher paying, more stable and more difficult to outsource, according to the Citizens Climate Lobby.

Billera points to a national and regional green jobs assessment by the Brookings Institute released last month, which concluded that “the clean economy outperformed the nation during the recession.”

The Citizens Climate Lobby is an international organization with 31 chapters across the United States and Canada.

Sunday’s outreach event will take place from noon until 4 p.m. at the ferry dock in Clinton.

People interested in learning more about Sunday’s outreach event or climate change issues can contact Billera at 206-605-2650 or ccl.whidbey@citizensclimatelobby.org, or visit citizensclimatelobby.org.