China and Its U.S. Wind Farm Partner Promise More American Jobs
After a public outcry over China’s plan to seek $450 million in economic recovery funds to build a wind farm in Texas that would create only 30 U.S. jobs, the companies involved are now promising to put more Americans to work.
USA Today reports the companies—a U.S. private equity firm and a Chinese turbine maker—also will build a plant in the United States that will make wind turbines while employing 1,000 people. The companies did not indicate the timeframe for building the plant, which would be one of the biggest in the nation for wind turbines.
Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, says:
It’s a start, but it just shows how far we have to go [to catch up in the production of wind turbines and other clean-energy products.]
The Missing Link in Clean-Energy Policy
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Andrea Buffa is a senior writer and policy associate at the Apollo Alliance.
What would it look like if the United States had a long-term national economic development policy—including an industrial policy—to grow the clean energy economy?
Call Congress and Tell Lawmakers to Support the Budget
As President Obama nears the 100-day mark of his term (more on that tomorrow), the U.S. House and Senate are set for a final vote this week on Obama’s historic budget blueprint that sets the stage for rebuilding the economy, moves the nation toward comprehensive health care reform and makes major investments in education, clean energy and green jobs.
Both chambers passed budget resolutions in early April that closely mirrored Obama’s request. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the budget resolution
lays the groundwork for historic health care reform and clean energy legislation. We will make health care more affordable and accessible, improve quality and focus on prevention and wellness. By sparking a clean energy revolution, we will create good-paying jobs, for American workers and protect our planet from climate change.
Clean Energy, Good Jobs Should Go Hand in Hand
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Twenty-five major leaders from government, business, labor and activist organizations—including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore—met on Monday to discuss strategies for boosting the nation’s renewable energy production, reducing dependence on foreign oil and ensuring that “green jobs” are quality jobs.
The forum, titled “National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy,” was sponsored by the Center for American Progress (CAP). Participants focused on modernizing and expanding the electricity grid, rapidly increasing transmission capacity for renewable energy and reducing dependence on foreign oil by examining short- and long-term solutions to replace foreign oil with domestic resources. Click here for a video of the discussions.
As Sweeney told the participants:
The challenge of clean energy and climate change creates a rare opportunity to do two things at once—meet the challenge of a cleaner planet and at the same time use it to create the good jobs of a new economy. A new U.S. energy strategy can be the foundation of rebuilding the middle class if we ensure that the jobs we create are good, innovative jobs here in our country—and that can then become the foundation of a strong new economy.
