New Plan for Creating and Keeping Clean Energy Jobs in California
This week the California Apollo Alliance released a comprehensive strategy that details how to continue creating good clean energy jobs in California and move the state toward broadly shared economic prosperity, energy security and climate stability. The California Apollo Program calls for reinforcing and expanding the state’s commitment to clean energy at a time when California’s landmark climate law, AB 32, is under attack, and clean energy job growth is one of the few bright spots in California’s struggling economy.
“We can’t afford to quit on California’s best opportunity to create jobs and ensure a more prosperous decade—expansion of California’s clean energy economy,” said Lisa Hoyos, California coordinator of the Apollo Alliance.
The California Apollo Program was developed by leaders of California’s businesses, labor unions, environmental groups and social justice organizations. This group developed a set of policy recommendations to secure California’s economic future, retain the state’s global leadership in clean energy and technological innovation, and engage the workers and businesses who can keep the world’s 8th largest economy growing. The program has already been endorsed by Applied Materials, California Labor Federation, California League of Conservation Voters, California State Building and Construction Trades, Environmental Defense Fund, Green For All, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Business Council, SunPower Corporation, Union of Concerned Scientists and many others. Click here to endorse the California Apollo Program on behalf of your business or organization. Click here to support the California Apollo Program as an individual.
The backdrop of the release of the California Apollo Program is an effort by Texas oil companies to stop the implementation of California’s landmark climate and clean energy bill, AB 32. Oil giants Valero Energy and Tesoro, both of San Antonio, Texas, are funding a campaign to prevent AB 32 from going into effect.
For other states that are considering clean energy and climate measures, AB 32 is a model in that it includes the vast diversity of possible climate and clean energy policies. Key AB 32 measures include the following:
*A 33 percent renewable portfolio standard, to be met by 2020.
*A “million solar roofs” initiative.
*Strict building and appliance energy efficiency standards.
*GHG emissions standards for passenger vehicles.
*A low-carbon fuel standard.
*A plan for high-speed rail between Northern and Southern California.
*A cap and trade program, in collaboration with other Western U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
*Many other measures in areas including land use, industrial energy efficiency, agriculture, forests, recycling and waste, and water.
The California Apollo Program would reinforce and expand AB 32 so that California keeps creating clean energy jobs. These jobs grew by five percent in California during the recession while overall employment decreased. The Program’s recommendations include:
Transforming the Way California Generates and Uses Energy
• Realize the economic opportunity of California’s groundbreaking comprehensive climate law.
• Generate 33 percent of the California’s power from renewable sources by 2020 and prioritize in-state production.
• Upgrade California’s existing buildings to world class energy efficiency standards and ensure that new construction is “green.”
• Modernize the power grid to support clean energy generation and smart grid technology.
• Require smart, sustainable and equitable approaches to land use as California’s communities grow.
• Revitalize rural California by expanding environmentally sustainable renewable energy and carbon sequestration projects.
Maintaining California’s Global Leadership in the Clean Energy Economy
• Invest in clean energy research and development.
• Target public and private support toward commercialization of new technologies.
• Support public-private research and development partnerships.
• Provide sufficient and stable support for California’s institutions of higher education.
Making It in California, by Californians
• Help manufacturers retool their factories and retrain their employees to produce clean energy products.
• Revamp California’s transportation manufacturing industry to meet growing demand for high-efficiency vehicles.
• Invest in next-generation alternative fuels and California’s low-carbon fuel infrastructure.
• Modernize California’s transportation infrastructure to connect our neighborhoods, cities and rural areas with world-class transit systems.
• Promote “Buy California” and “Buy America” policies.
• Recycle and reuse it in California.
Creating Economic Prosperity for All and Tapping the Skills and Productivity of California’s Workforce
• Train California’s workers to meet the demands of the clean energy economy.
• Ensure that the transition to a clean energy economy creates pathways out of poverty.
• Prioritize the creation of good, family-supporting jobs.
Here’s what you can do to support the California Apollo Program to build and strengthen California’s clean energy economy:
*Read the California Apollo Program
*Endorse on behalf of your organization
*Express your support as an individual
*Share the California Apollo Program with your friends and neighbors and on your social networks: Forward this email to your friends and neighbors; update your Facebook status or post a link (For example, “The California Apollo Program charts a path to our clean energy future. We can’t afford NOT to implement it. Join me and sign the petition and become a supporter! http://bit.ly/CAApollo“); or tweet about it (For example, “RT @ApolloAlliance #CAApollo charts a path to CA’s #cleanenergy future. #greenjobs #economy #stimulus http://bit.ly/CAApollo“).
Click here to read an op-ed about the California Apollo Program in the California Progress Report by Lisa Hoyos, Apollo’s California coordinator.
In other news …
*Democracy Collaborative releases new report on green ownership. The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland has released a new report called Growing a Green Economy for All: From Green Jobs to Green Ownership. The Democracy Collaborative advocates the idea that the emerging green economy is an opportunity not only to create a significant number of new, green jobs but also to organize those jobs so that they significantly broaden ownership over wealth and capital. In short: green jobs you can own. The report looks at cooperatives, employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) companies, municipal enterprises, non-profit social enterprises, community development corporations and community development financial institutions that participate in the green economy, and includes case studies as well as descriptions of the challenges faced by those who seek to build an equitable green economy. Click here to read the report.
*The weekly update will be on vacation next week. Have a great Labor Day weekend, and we’ll talk to you again in September!
Apollo Releases Report on Indiana’s Clean Energy Job Creation Potential
Apollo Releases Report on Indiana’s Clean Energy Job Creation Potential
This week, the Apollo Alliance released a report about the potential for clean energy job creation in Indiana. The report, How to Keep Creating Clean Energy Jobs in Indiana, found that Indiana missed out on 117,000 jobs when the U.S. Senate failed to pass clean energy and climate legislation this summer.
“The job-creation potential of clean energy and climate policies is impressive,” said Matt Mayrl, policy director at the Apollo Alliance and one of the report’s authors. “With Indiana still suffering from a 10.1 percent unemployment rate, the state’s businesses, workers and stagnant economy cannot afford another year without strong national clean energy and climate policies.”
The report analyzed the employment impact of several key federal clean energy and climate policies, including a clean energy manufacturing loan program along the lines of the IMPACT Act; a strong renewable energy standard of 25 percent by 2025; investments in advanced vehicle manufacturing paired with stronger vehicle energy efficiency standards; and a cap on carbon emissions combined with key energy efficiency provisions. It found that these combined policies could create up to 117,000 jobs in Indiana by 2030—many of them in the manufacturing sector.
“If the U.S. Senate does not make another attempt to pass clean energy and climate policies when it returns to session in September, Indiana will miss out on an historic opportunity to put tens of thousands of Hoosiers back to work in a new generation of quality clean energy jobs,” said Andrea Alderson-Bazemore, the coordinator of the Indiana Apollo Alliance.
Click here to read the report.
Photo credit: Allison Transmission.
What’s new across the country?
Oil Hasn’t Vanished from the Gulf of Mexico
Following on the heels of recent optimistic reports about the disappearance of the majority of the oil that gushed into the Gulf of Mexico throughout this spring and summer, three new analyses call those rosy estimates into question. “The idea that 75 percent of the oil is gone and is of no further concern to the environment is just absolutely incorrect,” said Charles Hopkins of the University of Georgia, one of the study’s authors.
The University of Georgia study found that after accounting for oil that has been skimmed, burned, evaporated and degraded, the oil remaining at or below the surface is between 70 and 79 percent, or between 2.9 and 3.2 million barrels. Meanwhile, University of South Florida Marine scientists have discovered oil in sediments in a vital underwater canyon and observed evidence that the oil has become toxic to marine organisms. And scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have discovered a 22-mile long oil plume more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, which “could stick around for quite a while” said study co-author Ben Van Mooy.
President Obama Touts Clean Energy Manufacturing
On Monday, President Obama visited Wisconsin manufacturer ZBB Energy Corporation to talk about the potential for clean energy production to revitalize American manufacturing. ZBB Energy manufactures advanced zinc bromide flow batteries and intelligent control platforms, key components of a smart energy grid and successful U.S. electric vehicle industry.
“What we’ve been trying to do — and that’s why I’m here at ZBB — is to jumpstart a homegrown, clean energy industry –- building on the good work of your governor and others in this state,” said President Obama.
“We expect our commitment to clean energy to lead to more than 800,000 jobs by 2012. And that’s not just creating work in the short term, that’s going to help lay the foundation for lasting economic growth. I just want everybody to understand –just a few years ago, American businesses could only make 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles — 2 percent. In just a few years, we’ll have up to 40 percent of the world’s capacity.”
Click here to read the President’s remarks or here to watch them on video.
On Wednesday, the President expressed a similar message during a visit to Toledo.
In other news …
*Check out our latest clean energy success stories. We have new signature stories about Allison Transmission, which is creating union jobs in Indianapolis in hybrid truck manufacturing, and Abound Solar, which plans to open the largest solar panel manufacturing plant in the United States in Tipton County, Indiana. We also have a new story about a union electrician, Tanya Pitts, who is helping commercial building owners employ energy efficient lighting techniques.
* Intern at the Apollo Alliance! The Apollo Alliance is seeking a smart, organized, energetic person with strong research and writing skills to assist with our program and policy department. This internship offers an excellent opportunity for a talented student or professional committed to clean energy and social equity issues to gain experience working in a high caliber, fast paced, results-oriented non-profit policy organization. The application deadline is Sept. 3. Click here to view the internship announcement.
Tanya Pitts Sees a Well-Lit Career Path in Advanced Lighting
An increasing number of commercial buildings owners in California are employing energy-efficient lighting techniques to save money and reduce their buildings’ energy usage. Their actions are being spurred on by regulations like California’s Title 24 energy efficiency standard, incentives from utility companies like PG&E, and the increasing cost of electricity in California during peak hours.
All of this means more work for people like Tanya Pitts—a 32-year-old electrician from Oakland who’s certified in advanced lighting controls.
Indiana Missed Out on 117,000 Jobs When Senate Failed to Pass Clean Energy and Climate Legislation This Summer
As state unemployment hovers at above 10 percent, new study finds that strong energy and climate policies could create significant numbers of jobs in Indiana – especially in manufacturing
Strong federal clean energy and climate policies could create up to 117,000 jobs in Indiana by 2030, according to a new study by the Apollo Alliance. Many of these jobs would be created in the manufacturing sector, which has been decimated in Indiana with the downturn of the U.S. auto industry.
“The job-creation potential of clean energy and climate policies is impressive,” said Matt Mayrl, policy director at the Apollo Alliance and one of the report’s authors. “With Indiana still suffering from a 10.1 percent unemployment rate, the state’s businesses, workers and stagnant economy cannot afford another year without strong national clean energy and climate policies.”
The report, How to Keep Creating Clean Energy Jobs in Indiana, examines the impact of several clean energy and climate policies on employment in Indiana. Many of these policies are under consideration in the U.S. Senate, which failed to act on any energy or climate policies before it adjourned for summer recess.
The report finds that implementation of the Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act, a domestic clean energy manufacturing bill, would create between 40,000 and 50,000 jobs in Indiana over ten years; a renewable energy standard of 25 percent by 2025 combined with stronger domestic supply chains to ensure domestic suppliers fully meet the new demand created under the RES could create up to 39,000 manufacturing jobs in Indiana by 2025; vehicle efficiency standards paired with investments in domestic advanced vehicle manufacturing could create up to 19,000 manufacturing jobs in Indiana by 2020; and a cap on carbon emissions combined with key energy efficiency provisions would create 7,280 jobs in Indiana by 2030.
“If the U.S. Senate does not make another attempt to pass clean energy and climate policies when it returns to session in September, Indiana will miss out on an historic opportunity to put tens of thousands of Hoosiers back to work in a new generation of quality clean energy jobs,” said Andrea Alderson-Bazemore, the coordinator of the Indiana Apollo Alliance.
Even without strong national or state-level clean energy measures, Indiana’s clean energy jobs have been growing at a fast clip – 17.9 percent between 1998 and 2007, according to a June 2009 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Wind manufacturer Brevini is opening a plant in Muncie. Abound Solar is setting up shop in a former Getrag Transmission plant that has been vacant since 2008. Allison Transmission is creating jobs manufacturing hybrid vehicles.
“Policies that drive clean energy demand are key to reviving Indiana’s economy and creating high-quality jobs for the people of our state,” said Jason Jason Haltom, business manager at IBEW Local 481 and a member of the Indiana Apollo Alliance steering committee. “Clean energy success stories are already cropping up around the state—including among IBEW workers who are finding work in areas like solar panel installation—but these would be much more widespread with the right state and federal policies.”
How to Keep Creating Clean Energy Jobs in Indiana is available at www.apolloalliance.org/reports
CONTACT: Andrea Alderson-Bazemore (317) 869-5891; bazemore@apolloalliance.org
or Andrea Buffa (415) 371-1700 x209; buffa@apolloalliance.org
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The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of unlikely and diverse interests - including labor, business, environmental, and community leaders - advancing a bold vision for the next American economy centered on clean energy and good jobs.
Impacts of Climate Change Seen Around the World in Summer 2010
Heat waves and wildfires in Russia. Record-breaking heat in the eastern and southern United States. Massive flooding in Pakistan. Melting glaciers in Greenland. These are just some of the impacts of climate change that are being seen around the world during summer 2010.
In early August, scientists observing the Petermann Glacier in Greenland reported that an area of ice three times the size of Manhattan had broken off the glacier. “It is not a freak event and is certainly a manifestation of warming,” said Dr. Richard Bates of the University of St. Andrews. “This year marks yet another record breaking melt year in Greenland; temperatures and melt across the entire ice sheet have exceeded those in 2007 and of historical records.”
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted in an announcement this week that in addition to the calving of the iceberg from the Greeland ice sheet, a number of other extreme weather events are occurring around the world this summer, giving rise to an unprecedented loss of human life and property. These include the record heat wave and wildfires in the Russian Federation, monsoonal flooding in Pakistan and rain-induced landslides in China. “Climate extremes have always existed,” wrote the WMO in its August 11 statement, “but all the events cited above compare with, or exceed in intensity, duration or geographical extent, the previous largest historical events.” The sequence of current events matches projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of more frequent and more intense extreme weather events due to global warming. Click here to read the WMO statement.
Meanwhile, temperatures are breaking records throughout the eastern and southern United States. According to a new report by the National Wildlife Federation, in 2010, New Jersey, Delaware and North Carolina had their hottest June on record, while Maryland, Virgina, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana had their second hottest June. And the hot conditions continued with July 2010 being among the top five hottest on record for many states. “2010 is a sample of what’s to come because global warming is bringing more frequent and severe heat waves which will seriously impact vulnerable populations,” said Dr. Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist at the National Wildlife Federation. Click here to read the report, Extreme Heat in Summer 2010: A Window on the Future.
Perhaps this extreme weather will give pause to our Senators as they sweat through their summer vacations knowing they failed to take any meaningful action so far this year on climate and clean energy issues.
Photo of scientists observing the Petermann Glacier courtesy of University of St. Andrews.
United Steelworkers Making Clean Energy Jobs a Reality for American Workers
Besides the climate crisis, the crisis of summer 2010 is undoubtedly the ongoing economic crisis. As we head into mid-August, experts are expressing increasing concern about the high rate of unemployment and the possibility that the recovery is not advancing as quickly as had been hoped. But thanks to the U.S. labor movement, progress is being made in creating clean energy jobs for American workers.
This week, the United Steelworkers (USW) announced that it had signed agreements with A-Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd, (NASDAQ: APWR) and Shenyang Power Group (“SPG”), two of China’s leading power generation companies. The two Chinese clean energy companies have agreed that for a 615-megawatt wind farm they are building in West Texas, they will manufacture as much of the wind turbines as possible in the United States, using American-made steel and creating as many as 1,000 American jobs.
The West Texas wind farm is notorious among clean energy advocates because news surfaced in October that only 15 percent of the 2,800 jobs to be created by the wind farm would be located in the U.S., despite the fact that the project was to be funded, in part, by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The rest of the jobs would be in China, where the wind turbines were to be manufactured.
In addition to protesting against this loss of American jobs, the USW also decided to pursue a collaboration with A-Power and Shenyang that would return these jobs to the U.S.
“The deal is a result of white collar Chinese executives negotiating with blue collar union officers to create green collar jobs in the U.S.,” wrote Steelworkers International President (and Apollo Alliance board member) Leo Gerard in the Huffington Post. “The agreement defies stereotypes about unions as constantly combative, excessively expensive and environmentally challenged. The USW has a track record of engaging with enlightened CEOs for mutual benefit. It has a long green history. And it has worked to return off-shored jobs to the U.S.”
Kudos to the steelworkers for securing this landmark agreement that is a model for how we can win clean energy manufacturing jobs for American workers!
In other news …
*AFL-CIO pushes for mass transit jobs in Los Angeles. Today, the AFL-CIO organized a rally of thousands of people in Los Angeles to urge policymakers and political candidates to commit to solving our nation’s job crisis. Among the job-creation policies being backed by the AFL is a clean transportation project in Los Angeles County called the 30/10 Initiative. The idea of the Initiative is to accomplish 30 years worth of mass transit projects in just 10 years, which will not only create 160,000 clean energy jobs but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled in Los Angeles. The mass transit projects to be funded under the 30/10 Initiative include the Metro Orange Line extension, Westside subway extension, Green Line LAX extension, and others. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke at the Los Angeles rally as did LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LA County Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo. Click here for more information about the 30/10 Initiative and here to learn more about what the AFL-CIO is doing to push policymakers to focus on jobs, jobs, jobs.
*Intern at the Apollo Alliance! The Apollo Alliance is seeking a smart, organized, energetic person with strong research and writing skills to assist with our program and policy department. This internship offers an excellent opportunity for a talented student or professional committed to clean energy and social equity issues to gain experience working in a high caliber, fast paced, results-oriented non-profit policy organization. The application deadline is Sept. 3. Click here to view the internship announcement.
In the Face of Senate Inaction, Clean Energy Advocates Soldier On
This week the Senate will adjourn for its summer vacation without having passed even the limited energy/oil spill response bill that was unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week. Reid pulled the bill this week in the face of unanimous opposition from Republicans as well as resistance from some Democrats, like Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who opposed the bill’s provision to remove the liability cap for companies involved in an oil spill.
Reid said he would bring the bill—which was the Senate leadership’s fall-back legislation after it failed to muster 60 votes for a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill—to the Senate floor in September.
Not to be deterred by this latest piece of bad news, clean energy advocates vowed to work throughout the summer to hold Senators accountable for their inaction on one of the critical issues of our time. American Businesses for Clean Energy, American Sustainable Business Council and other business groups that support clean energy and climate measures began running ads in Politico and the Washington Post this week that feature a ticker that counts the amount by which America is falling behind other countries in clean energy investments since the Senate abandoned climate legislation in July.
Clean Energy Works, a coalition of more than 80 grassroots organizations, announced that it would hold events in several states to call out those states’ Senators for catering to the oil industry rather than to the needs of the nation’s economy and environment.
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) vowed to push his fellow Senators to consider an expanded energy bill in September that includes a renewable electricity standard in addition to offshore oil and gas production reforms.
The AFL-CIO released a statement from President Richard Trumka that urged Congress and the Obama administration not to give up their efforts to implement a comprehensive approach to energy and climate issues that will “retain and create good jobs and lead to a cleaner planet.”
A group of local Chambers of Commerce formed Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) to push for market-based solutions to climate change. These local Chambers oppose the national Chamber of Commerce’s rigid opposition to climate legislation. According to Grist, the new CICE already includes a dozen local Chambers.
The Apollo Alliance remains steadfast in its belief that strong clean energy and climate policies are urgently needed to move our country toward climate stability, oil independence and clean energy job creation. We will work with clean energy advocates throughout the Unites States—and around the world—to bring these critical policies to fruition.
Photo credit: Rob Baxter
In Other News …
*Manufacturing in the spotlight. This week the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee released a report about how the manufacturing sector has fared during the recession. Understanding the Economy: Promising Signs of Recovery in Manufacturing documents the loss of almost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs between June 2006 and December 2009, but finds that the manufacturing sector has shown signs of recovery in the first half of 2010. According to the report, manufacturing is a bright spot in the U.S. economy at the moment, with manufacturing sector employment having expanded for the past six consecutive months. With the proper policies in place, this manufacturing recovery could move from its current fragile state to a stable condition. Among the policies recommended in the report are tax credits for clean energy manufacturing.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing on the Obama administration’s manufacturing agenda, with clean energy manufacturing champion Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) hitting on some of Apollo’s favorite themes during the hearing, including the need to develop rail supply chains as the U.S. scales up investments in high-speed rail.
*Fifty-eight legislators introduce the Clean Ports Act of 2010. On July 29, U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and 57 other House members introduced legislation that would amend the Federal Motor Carrier Act to allow ports to enact and enforce clean truck programs and implement environmental programs. This change to federal law would facilitate the success of programs like the Los Angeles Clean Trucks program, portions of which have been stalled due to court challenges. Teamsters President James P. Hoffa and Sierra Club Chairman (and Apollo Alliance board member) Carl Pope penned an op-ed in Politico lauding the Clean Ports Act and encouraging Congress to “look under the hood and fix the outdated federal laws that are stalling economic and environmental progress and keeping America’s workers off the road to recovery.”
*New study looks at “supply-side” green jobs policies. A new study published by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and supported by a National Science Foundation grant analyzes city and state initiatives to identify best practices that link environmental policies with the creation of clean-energy industries and jobs. Building Clean-Energy Industries and Green Jobs tracks the following clean-energy industries: biofuels, smart-grid and building technologies, solar energy, electric/hybrid transportation and energy storage and wind.
Senate Will Not Debate a Cap on Carbon Emissions
This week Senate leaders announced that they will not debate a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill this summer. Up until Thursday, several Senators were working tirelessly with utility companies, environmental groups and others in an effort to find a path to 60 Senate votes for a bill that would at least include a cap on carbon emissions from utility companies—if not an economy-wide carbon cap. But on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – NV) announced that supporters of a limit on carbon emissions did not have the votes. “It’s easy to count to 60,” Sen. Reid told Politico. “I could do it by the time I was in eighth grade. My point is this, we know where we are. We know we don’t have the votes.”
Instead of a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill, next week Sen. Reid will introduce a bill that responds to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and includes some clean energy measures such as investments in natural gas-powered trucks; enactment of the HOME STAR residential energy efficiency program; and additional funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The bill will not include a national renewable energy standard, according to several media reports.
“If dominating the global clean energy economy is the next American space race, reports that the Senate will not act on comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation mean that we are virtually handing the prize to the Chinese and a host of European nations,” said Apollo Alliance Executive Director Cathy Calfo. “Capping carbon emissions and driving investment back into our own domestic clean energy economy should have been the centerpieces of this bill. This is a historic lost opportunity.”
Senator John Kerry (D – MA), who has championed comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, vowed to continue working for a comprehensive bill even as he acknowledged the importance of quickly passing legislation that responds to the Gulf oil spill.
“Senator Lieberman and I will continue to work with our colleagues and the stakeholders in order to carve a path to sixty votes for comprehensive legislation that appropriately targets, in an appropriate way, carbon, so that we can send signals to the marketplace and change the direction and create jobs for America and improve our security. The work we’ve done over the last year and a half will remain a foundation for all of this effort,” Kerry said.
The Apollo Alliance will also continue fighting for legislation that meaningfully moves us toward climate stability, oil independence and the clean energy job creation our country so desperately needs.
Stay tuned to www.apolloalliance.org for more information once the Senate energy bill is actually introduced.
Photo credit: Adam Fagen.
Recovery Act Continues to Create Clean Energy Jobs
The White House has published two new reports about the economic benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). According to the Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Fourth Quarterly Report, the $90 billion in ARRA investment and tax incentives for the clean energy economy will create 827,000 jobs through 2012. These include jobs in energy efficiency, renewable energy installation, grid modernization, advanced vehicles, high-speed rail and clean energy manufacturing.
Another new report, The Recovery Act: Transforming America’s Transportation Sector, Batteries and Electric Vehicles details the impact of ARRA investments in advanced batteries and vehicles. It finds that before the Recovery Act was implemented, the U.S. produced just two percent of the world’s batteries for advanced vehicles, but due to Recovery Act investments, the U.S. will have the capacity to produce 20 percent of these batteries by 2012 and up to 40 percent by 2015. The report also finds that because of higher-volume domestic manufacturing, the cost of advanced batteries could be cut in half by the end of 2013, dramatically driving down the cost of an electric vehicle and greatly expanding the domestic market.
However, these advances could be jeopardized by the Senate’s failure to enact strong clean energy and climate measures.
In Other News …
*Efforts Continue to Rescue Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs. Last week, 30 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA), introduced the PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010. The bill would order lenders to adopt standards that support Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, rather than stymie green energy efforts. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. While these bills work their way through the legislative process, Rep. Thompson, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) and others are negotiating with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to gain approval of a 300,000 home PACE pilot program. For background information on PACE, check out our recent Apollo Alliance weekly updates. Click here to email your members of Congress and urge them support PACE.
*Read our newest clean energy success stories! In Ohio, Tremont Electric is harvesting kinetic energy—the energy that is created through movement—and creating local clean energy manufacturing jobs in the process. In Indiana, international wind manufacturer Brevini is opening a new plant in Muncie that will employ 450 people building planetary gearboxes. In California, Stephanie Skubiak is insulating piping, equipment, vessels, ducts, boilers and other mechanical systems from San Jose to Eureka, reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in commercial buildings.
The Power of One: Tracy Hall Brings Renewable Energy to Northwest Indiana
Tracy Hall of Munster, Indiana has been an electrician for 30 years. He is among the thousands of construction trades workers hit by the current recession, who have seen unemployment in the trades rise to almost 25 percent nationally. But Hall hasn’t had time to sit around getting depressed about the state of the economy. Instead, he’s spent the time when work has been scarce developing a new expertise. As the only union worker in Indiana who is certified as a solar photovoltaic installer by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, and a LEED Accredited Professional by the U.S. Green Building Council, he has become one of Northwest Indiana’s most knowledgeable renewable energy technicians. Read more
Apollo Alliance Statement on Senate’s Decision to Abandon Comprehensive Clean Energy and Climate Legislation
“We are handing the prize to the Chinese and a host of European nations”
San Francisco, CA–Cathy Calfo, executive director of the Apollo Alliance, today issued the following statement about the Senate’s decision to abandon comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation:
“Despite the heroic attempts of Senators Reid, Kerry, Boxer, Lieberman and others, not a single Republican was willing to vote for a clean energy and climate bill that would increase U.S. energy security, reduce harmful carbon emissions, and create millions of clean energy jobs for Americans. This is a historic lost opportunity.
“If dominating the global clean energy economy is the next American space race, the Senate’s failure to act will virtually hand the prize to the Chinese and a host of European nations. Capping carbon emissions and driving investment back into our own domestic clean energy economy should have been the centerpieces of this bill.”
CONTACT: Andrea Buffa: (510) 325-3653, buffa@apolloalliance.org
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The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of unlikely and diverse interests – including labor, business, environmental, and community leaders – advancing a bold vision for the next American economy centered on clean energy and good jobs.
Harvesting Personal Energy to Create Ohio’s Clean Energy Future
When it comes to renewable energy, we hear plenty about the latest developments in solar and wind. But what about the latest developments in kinetic energy? Read more
