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.
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.
Reid Releases Draft of Truncated Energy Bill
After months of delay, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally released his long-awaited energy and oil-response package on Tuesday. While the bill contains important policies addressing the BP oil spill, it does not include a price on carbon, renewable electricity standard (RES), or substantial direct investments into clean energy manufacturing - items essential to truly comprehensive clean energy and climate reform.
The limited $15 billion legislation that emerged includes four distinct elements. First, it removes the offshore oil drilling liability cap of $75 million, a move that would apply retroactively to BP. Second, it provides $3.8 billion to the Natural Gas Vehicle and Infrastructure Program to accelerate deployment of natural gas trucks. Also included within the second section is $400 million for the Electric Drive Vehicle Community Deployment Program, a public-private research partnership to develop more efficient electric cars. Third, it funds the Home Star Retrofit Act to encourage retrofits of residential buildings to make them more energy-efficient. Finally, the legislation would reauthorize funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the next five years.
The disappointment in the final legislation was immediately apparent. As Reid himself lamented in a Huffington Post op-ed, the Republicans have “chosen short-term political gains over solving our country’s long-term energy challenges.” He continued: “They might think that strategy will pay political dividends in November, but down the road we’ll all be paying for our inaction.”
Despite Reid’s decision to exclude the RES, many hope that a relatively modest RES requiring 15% of electricity come from renewables by 2020 could be considered during the amendment process. While it’s unclear whether Majority Leader Reid will allow amendments to the bill given that he aims to finish it before August recess, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) has already vowed to propose the RES as an amendment and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) told the New York Times that he counts 62 votes for the proposal.
The bitter debate over the political viability of including an RES comes on the heels of AWEA’s dire findings in its Mid-Year Market Report. Released on Tuesday, the study found new wind capacity built in the first half of 2010 is 71% below 2009 levels. “It is dismal and getting worse,” AWEA CEO Denise Bode told greentechmedia, identifying Congress’ inability to pass a renewables standard as the biggest impediment to new wind investment.
Photo credit: Center for American Progress
Pelosi Advances “Make-it-in-America”
This week, Democrats accelerated their “Make-it-in-America” push, a legislative initiative intended to create jobs and revitalize American manufacturing. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) unveiled the project last Tuesday to set the groundwork for an array of manufacturing policies - including support for electric cars and clean energy development - she hopes to get through Congress this year.
At a time when a third of U.S. manufacturing jobs have evaporated in the past decade, politicians and the public are increasingly recognizing that the U.S. needs a strong manufacturing base to thrive. The “Make-it-in-America” agenda underscores arguments made by Apollo in both the New Apollo Program and the Green Manufacturing Action Plan (GreenMAP), which emphasize the importance of expanding our domestic manufacturing capacity to produce clean energy and advanced transportation systems and their component parts.
In announcing her plan, Pelosi highlighted this necessity of restoring American leadership in the face of increasing competition abroad. “House Democrats are committed to putting people to work in high-skill, high-wage jobs - promoting American competitiveness, innovation, and exports,” she said. “[W]hen we ‘make it in America,’ we create jobs and lead the world economy.”
This week, Speaker Pelosi unveiled a new website to keep the public updated on the House’s efforts to advance the ‘Make it in America’ agenda, which currently consists of five separate pieces of legislation:
*The National Manufacturing Strategy Act, which passed 378-39 in the House this Wednesday, would direct the president to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the manufacturing sector every four years and issue a strategic vision. Developing the strategy would involve a panel including federal officials, two state governors from each party and nine private sector leaders. Already, China, India, the U.K., Brazil, Canada and Germany produce their own strategic manufacturing plans - the U.S. risks falling behind without one of its own.
*The Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act would help clean energy firms get the information they need to stay competitive. The bill specifically calls on the Department of Commerce to develop and implement a National Clean Energy Export Strategy. It would provide market information to help U.S. companies find places abroad to export their products. This much-need research would particularly benefit small- and medium-sized businesses that lack the resources to conduct it themselves.
*The U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act would reduce tariffs on the raw materials imported by domestic manufacturers, leveling the playing field to retain U.S. jobs. The Act passed in the House with strong bipartisan support last Wednesday.
*The End the Trade Deficit Act would establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the causes of the deficit and develop a plan to overcome the deficit within ten years. Introduced over a year ago, it remained mired in committee until its current revival, where a House vote is promised within the next week or two.
*The Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act would invest in job training. Administered by the Department of Labor, the Act emphasizes partnerships between unions, employers and trainers. It passed in the House last Monday.
In other news…
*FTA Study Notes Need for Investment in Transit Infrastructure. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released a study last week estimating that it would require an immediate investment of $77.7 billion simply to bring our nation’s rail and bus transit systems to a state of “good repair.” Entitled the “National State of Good Repair Assessment Study,” it also found that - once brought up to good standards - maintaining these transportation systems would require an average annual investment of approximately $14.4 billion. If the U.S. addresses these transit investment needs, it would benefit a number of domestic manufacturers at all levels of the supply chain, as an Apollo-Duke University study found in June.
*Advanced Vehicle Technology Act Passes in Senate Committee. The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee passed the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009 last Tuesday. The bill would reform DOE’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Manufacturing, which was initially created in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Initially only focused on passenger car retooling, amendments proposed in this legislation would help support the domestic manufacture of transit vehicles and cleaner medium and heavy-duty trucks.
*Read our most recent clean energy success stories! In Indianapolis, the Electrical Training Institute is hard at work certifying new green technicians to install solar panels, build wind turbines and retrofit houses. A joint partnership between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 481 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Central Indiana, the new program already has the longest waiting list of any of the Institute’s courses. In Munster, Indiana electrician Tracy Hall is also training his fellow union members to install solar photovoltaics and learn the necessary new skills for the clean-energy economy.
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.
Efforts Underway to Save Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs
This week, the State of California sued mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for blocking Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs; the town of Babylon in New York held a rally in support of PACE and threatened a lawsuit; and members of Congress prepared legislation that would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) not to block PACE programs from moving forward.As we explained in the last weekly update, PACE programs help residential and commercial property owners make energy improvements to their properties. Through PACE, local governments issue bonds to help finance property owners’ renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects. Property owners apply for financing for their projects, which they then pay off over a long period of time (usually 20 years) through a surcharge on their property tax bill. There are no up-front costs whatsoever, and property owners can usually expect to save more money on their energy bills than they will have to pay in increased property taxes. If the property changes hands, the cost of the upgrades is passed on to the next property owner.
PACE programs have been authorized in 23 states–most recently this week in Missouri, thanks in part to the efforts of the Missouri Apollo Alliance.
But these programs are in jeopardy, because Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHFA have recently taken actions that have frozen most PACE programs around the country and could lead to PACE’s ultimate demise. They object to the fact that under most PACE programs, a lien is placed on the property that will take priority over the mortgage if the homeowner defaults. The FHFA and the U.S. Treasury Department have both instructed banks to place additional restrictions on home loans to borrowers in jurisdictions that have PACE programs, among other directives.
Thankfully, cities, states and federal policymakers are fighting back in an effort to save these programs that have so much potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, lower energy bills for consumers, and create jobs in home weatherization and renewable energy installation. The State of California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday charging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with misrepresenting the nature of PACE programs and municipal financing. The lawsuit asserts that PACE funding is an assessment, not a loan, and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have long accepted local governments’ use of assessments in California to finance improvements that serve a public purpose, from the paving of roads and the undergrounding of utilities, to privately owned improvements like seismic and fire-related retrofits.
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received enormous federal bailouts,” said California Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose office filed the lawsuit. “But now they’re throwing up impermeable barriers to bank lending that creates jobs, stimulates the economy and boosts clean energy.”
While most PACE programs in California have been suspended indefinitely because of the actions of Fannie, Freddie and the FHFA, the town of Babylon, New York has vowed to continue its PACE program, despite pressure from federal agencies. The Apollo Alliance has featured Babylon’s Long Island Green Homes program among our clean energy success stories. More than 500 homeowners in the Town of Babylon have participated in the program, which reduces homeowners’ energy bills by an average of more than $1,000 per year and a home’s carbon emissions by close to four tons annually.
Babylon leaders joined with more than 50 local workers at a rally on Tuesday to announce that the town plans to sue the FHFA. “With a stroke of the pen, some faceless bureaucrats at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are attempting to kill the most potent jobs creation programs we have in this country,” said Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone. “We refuse to go along with this arbitrary and capricious attack that is nothing more than a jobs killer.”
Aside from a legal remedy to the PACE crisis, legislative remedies are also in the works. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY), who represents the town of Babylon, is working with Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA) on legislation explicitly directing the FHFA not to block PACE from moving forward and directing all federal regulators not to block commercial building PACE programs. The legislation should be introduced sometime next week. Israel’s office said that government loan guarantees for PACE programs are another option to appease Fannie, Freddie and the FHFA. Loan guarantees along these lines were included in the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, but have not gone into effect because the Senate has yet to pass similar legislation.
Reps. Israel and Thompson joined 14 other House members in signing a letter to FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco, urging him to work with other federal agencies to resolve the impasse over PACE—or to resign. As they said in the letter, PACE programs create jobs, and that is what our economy needs right now.
Stay tuned to the Apollo blog for new developments in the PACE debacle.
Photo: Babylon, NY Supervisor Steve Bellone and local workers rally in support of the Long Island Green Homes program.
In other news …
*California labor unions will put their weight behind the state’s landmark global warming law. This week, at its annual legislative convention, the California Labor Federation voted to oppose Proposition 23, an effort funded by Texas oil companies to stop implementation of California’s landmark global warming law, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB 32. AB 32 is a model law whose implementation will include a strong renewable portfolio standard; strict building and appliance energy efficiency standards; GHG emissions standards for passenger vehicles; a low-carbon fuel standard; and a cap-and-trade program; among many other measures. The California Labor Federation is made up of more than 1,200 AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions, representing 2.1 million union members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries. Click here to read a press release about the California Labor Fed’s opposition to Proposition 23.
*Policy Matters Ohio and the Ohio Apollo Alliance release new report on clean transportation. On Monday, Policy Matters Ohio and the Ohio Apollo Alliance released All Aboard: Clean Energy Transportation Opportunities Favor Ohio Economy. The report, based on research commissioned by the Apollo Alliance and conducted by Duke University, finds that increased public transit investment could drive demand for heavy transportation equipment and component parts produced in Ohio, retaining jobs and growing new ones. Click here to read the report.
*Support Clean and Safe Ports! The EPA award-winning Los Angeles Clean Truck Program has put more than 6,000 clean diesel and alternative fuel trucks on the road and reduced diesel emissions by more than 70 percent since it was first enacted in 2008. Unfortunately the trucking industry has challenged this cutting-edge program in court, which has put key components of the program in jeopardy. To support port truck drivers and communities near the ports, please sign this petition urging transportation leaders in Congress to stand up for strong environmental and labor standards at U.S. ports. Click here to sign the petition.
Federal Agencies Derail Program That Finances Home Energy Retrofits
This week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and U.S. Treasury Department took actions that call into question the future of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs. PACE programs have been authorized in 22 states as a means to help residential and commercial property owners make energy-efficiency and renewable-energy improvements to their properties.
Through PACE programs, local governments issue bonds to help finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects by property owners. Property owners apply for loans for their projects, which they can pay off over a long period of time (usually 20 years) through a surcharge on their property tax bill. There are no up-front costs whatsoever, and property owners can expect to save as much money on their energy bills as they will have to pay in increased property taxes. If the property changes hands, the cost of the upgrades is passed on to the next property owner.
Clean energy advocates have lauded PACE as a way to address two important barriers that have prevented property owners from making energy upgrades: 1) the up-front costs, and 2) the question of who pays for ongoing costs for upgrades when properties are sold. PACE programs can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and also create jobs in home weatherization and renewable energy installation.
But the FHFA and Treasury Department are not convinced. They object to the fact that under most PACE programs, a lien is placed on the property that will take priority over the mortgage if the homeowner defaults. “They [PACE programs] present significant risk to lenders and secondary market entities, may alter valuations for mortgage-backed securities and are not essential for successful programs to spur energy conversation,” the FHFA said in a statement it released on Tuesday.
The FHFA’s announcement, coupled with an earlier letter of concern about PACE from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, point to at least a freeze in the use of PACE programs and potentially their ultimate demise. The FHFA and Treasury Department have both instructed banks to place additional restrictions on home loans to borrowers in jurisdictions that have PACE programs, among other directives.
It’s hard to believe that just eight months ago, the Obama administration was advocating for widespread adoption of PACE programs. According to a report on PACE released by the White House in October 2009, “If only 15 percent of residential property owners nationwide took advantage of clean energy community financing, the resulting emissions reductions would contribute 4 percent of the savings needed for the U.S. to reach 1990 emissions levels by 2020.” Meanwhile, the Department of Energy has allocated $150 million in Recovery Act funding toward PACE.
It’s also hard to believe that the housing finance industry, which up until recently has been so freewheeling in its approach to creative forms of financing, has decided to draw a line in the sand when it comes to financing things like upgrades to aging hot water heaters and the installation of rooftop solar panels.
State and local policymakers strongly criticized the FHFA action this week and spoke out in support of PACE. The president of the board of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, Mayor Patrick Hays (mayor of North Little Rock, AR), said, “Before this latest FHFA action, PACE was poised to weatherize millions of homes and place tens of millions of solar panels on residences across the nation. Thousands of non-exportable jobs in the crucial residential construction industry have been jeopardized.”
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “I am deeply disappointed that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has chosen not to support a federal stimulus program that would make it cheaper for Californians to invest in energy efficiency. This decision not only puts at risk millions of dollars of Recovery Act funds but sends a message to local governments and private businesses that energy independence is not a priority.”
One of the only ways to rescue PACE will be for Congress to pass legislation that extends government loan guarantees to PACE programs. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) said he soon plans to introduce legislation along these lines.
In the meantime, other creative financing mechanisms still exist to support homeowners who are seeking an affordable way to finance energy improvements to their homes. One example is on-bill financing, which is being tested out in Portland, Oregon. This type of financing provides homeowners with low-interest, long-term loans for home energy improvements that they pay off via their monthly utility bills. Click here to learn more about the program, Clean Energy Works Portland.
Photo credit: solares
In other news …
*International Energy Agency says a global energy technology revolution is underway. According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, global investment in renewable electricity generation, led by wind and solar, reached an all-time high of $112 billion in 2008 and remained broadly stable in 2009 despite the economic recession. In OECD countries, the rate of energy efficiency improvement has increased to almost two percent per year, more than double the rate seen in the 1990s. And funding for low-carbon research, development and deployment has increased by one third between 2005 and 2008. However, the report, Energy Technology Perspectives 2010, also finds that without new policies to rapidly deploy low-carbon technologies on a large scale, energy-related CO2 emissions will almost double by 2050.
*Congressional Budget office finds that the American Power Act would reduce the federal deficit. Good news for those suffering from deficit hysteria! This week the CBO released its analysis of the American Power Act, the clean energy and climate bill that was introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). The CBO found that the American Power Act would reduce future deficits by about $19 billion over the 2011 to 2020 time period and would not add to the deficit in any way during future decades. Click here to read the CBO’s findings.
*Read the new issue of the Green Labor Journal. The Apollo Alliance is proud to be affiliated with the Green Labor Journal, a website that showcases labor unions’ green initiatives. The July issue of Green Labor Journal includes several articles about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; a piece by Bob Baugh of the AFL-CIO and Jeff Rickert of Green for All about the labor movement’s struggle for good, green jobs; and a transcript of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s speech at the Good Jobs Green Jobs convention; among other articles. Click here to learn more.
*Join the Apollo Alliance team! The Apollo Alliance is seeking an energetic and experienced organizer with strong management skills and some background in energy and economic development policy to lead our national network of state and local Apollo affiliates. The Director of State and Local Initiatives will be responsible for the nation-wide promotion of clean energy, good jobs initiatives, consistent with organizational and programmatic priorities. For more information, check out the job announcement.
Clean Energy Advocates Declare Independence from Fossil Fuels
This week, as Americans prepared to celebrate Independence Day, supporters of clean energy worked to make sure that by next July 4th our country will have moved significantly closer to independence from oil and other fossil fuels. The ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico—which has yet to be staunched and is now facing the menace of hurricane season—provided a back-drop for these efforts.
Not only has the oil spill provided a wake-up call to Americans about the dangers of our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels, it has also turned the public’s attention to the undue influence of oil-company lobbying and campaign contributions on our political process. BP apologist, Congressman Joe Barton, R-Texas, recently provided an example of how heavy support from dirty energy companies may influence the positions of our policymakers—not only on whether to hold oil companies like BP accountable for their wrongdoing, but also on whether to support America’s transition from the fossil-fuel status quo to clean energy.
Barton has received nearly $1.5 million from individuals or political action committees associated with the oil and gas industry since the 1990 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He ranks number one among all House members in donations from the oil and gas industry, but he is by no means alone among federal policymakers. So far, during the 2010 election cycle, oil and gas industry contributions to federal policymakers add up to nearly $14 million, and oil and gas industry lobbying totals more than $38 million.
It is in this environment, where fossil fuel companies are so actively trying to influence policymakers, that the Senate is getting ready to debate a clean energy and climate bill this summer. As you know from past weekly updates, uncertainty has reigned as Senate leadership has strived to forge a path to the 60 Senate votes needed to pass clean energy and climate legislation. This week, a bi-partisan group of senators met with President Obama to discuss what measures might be included in the legislation. One idea that has been floated since the meeting is a Senate bill that would include oil industry reforms in direct response to the BP oil spill, some clean energy measures from the Bingaman or Luger energy bills, and a possible cap on emissions from the utility sector.
In an effort to push a Senate clean energy and climate bill over the finish line, clean energy supporters have turned up the heat in recent weeks with lobby days, creative protests, television advertisements and many other efforts. Here are a few examples:
*On June 26, tens of thousands of people on beaches along the Gulf Coast and around the world took part in Hands Across the Sand, an action to raise awareness about the devastation caused by the BP oil spill and the need for clean energy. Click here to view photos and learn more about the day of action.
*The Apollo Alliance is running television and radio advertisements in Colorado and Nevada about the cost of our country’s dependence on foreign oil, and how clean energy measures can create jobs in those states. Click here to view the ads.
*The Sierra Club planted 10,000 American flags on the National Mall this week in a pattern that spelled out Freedom From Oil. Click here to see photos of the action and learn more.
*The National Conference of Black Mayors, Congressional Black Caucus, and Hip Hop Caucus gathered in Washington, D.C., this week to push the Senate for decisive action on comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. They say this legislation is needed to make the nation’s most vulnerable communities more stable and sustainable. Read more about their efforts here.
*VoteVets.org is running advertisements in Missouri and Nevada that demonstrate the influence of big oil on certain federal policymakers and call for a federal clean energy and climate bill. One of their ads features a veteran who once protected oil supplies from insurgent attacks in Iraq and is now working for a wind energy company. Click here to view the ads.
*Green For All has announced a Dirty Energy Independence Week of Action from July 1-7. They are asking people to take a personal pledge to reduce their dependence on oil and coal, and to tell their senators to support comprehensive climate and energy legislation. Click here to take action.
Although these activities may not match oil industry efforts to preserve the status quo dollar-for-dollar, they do represent the sentiments of the vast majority of the American public, who have repeatedly told pollsters that they want government action on climate and clean energy.
Photo from this week’s Freedom From Oil protest on the National Mall. Photo credit: Jenna Wandres and the Sierra Club.
In other news …
*The BlueGreen Alliance, American Wind Energy Association and United Steelworkers released a report this week recommending policies to build the U.S. wind manufacturing sector. The report, Winds of Change: A Manufacturing Blueprint for the Wind Industry, recommends that the U.S. adopt a national renewable energy standard as well as policies specifically geared to support domestic clean energy manufacturing such as Sen. Sherrod Brown’s IMPACT Act.
*Read our latest signature story, California Brings Green Job Training to High Schools. The Green Academy at Oakland Tech High School is one of 40 green technology-focused Career Partnership Academies launched around the state over the past school year. Students learn about renewable energy and the science of climate change; and they take a career technical education class where they gain hands-on experience related to clean energy careers.
New Reports Show Cleaner Transit Manufactures Jobs
This week, two reports documented the job creation potential of increased U.S. investments in public transit. The Apollo Alliance has long promoted public transit as a key component of our clean energy agenda, because of its effectiveness in reducing transportation-related oil use and greenhouse gas emissions. Public transit is especially important this year, because the national transportation bill has expired and will need to be re-authorized in the near future. The transportation bill presents a unique opportunity to reexamine U.S. transportation policy with an eye toward the twin goals of cleaner transportation and good jobs.
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| Photo credit: American Solving Inc |
The first report, which was prepared by the Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC) for the Apollo Alliance, focused exclusively on rail transit, which is expected to undergo considerable growth in the coming years, as Amtrak upgrades its railcars and adds high-speed trains, and as lawmakers consider a transportation bill that calls for significantly greater investments in public transit, including rail. It looked at the manufacture of U.S. rail vehicles and their component parts and found that the U.S. rail supply chain includes 247 manufacturing facilities in 35 states.
“Our research found that while there is already a healthy chain of U.S.-based manufacturing locations that produce components and systems for rail cars, the sector still has plenty of room to grow if the next federal transportation bill prioritizes public transit and rail investments,” said Marcy Lowe, a senior research analyst at the CGGC and the report’s lead author.
The states with the most manufacturing facilities—New York (32 rail manufacturing facilities), Pennsylvania (26), Illinois (23), California (22) and Ohio (13)—would reap major benefits from such a bill. “These states have a real chance to be at the center of America’s 21st century rail manufacturing industry,” said Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance. “Our nation needs a new transportation policy that invests in expanded public transit and more energy-efficient transportation, including rail. Done right, these investments could mean a windfall of rail manufacturing jobs across the country.”
The full report is available at apolloalliance.org and at cggc.duke.edu.
The other public transit report that was released this week backed up the Duke study’s finding that increased public transit investments will create more U.S. manufacturing jobs. In a report called The Job Impact of Transportation Reauthorization, the Economic Policy Institute looked at the job creation potential of two different transportation bills funded at the level of $500 billion—one with the current mix of transportation investments and one that invests more heavily in repair and maintenance, public transportation and livable communities. EPI found that the public-transit friendly bill, which is based on a proposal that’s been put forward by Transportation for America, would yield 400,000 more jobs over the six-year life of the law, for a total of more than 7.2 million jobs. 761,000 of those jobs would be in manufacturing.
The analysis also found that the Transportation for America investment strategy would especially benefit those hardest hit by the recession, including low-wage workers and Americans without a college degree. Approximately 80 percent of the new jobs created would be filled by Americans without a four-year degree. The proposal also would create jobs at a higher level of unionization (15 percent) than the overall economy (12 percent).
“This study shows why America needs a new direction in our transportation policy,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Cleaner and smarter transportation investments will create millions of good-paying, quality jobs and put our nation on a path to a lasting economic recovery.”
The full study is available at the EPI website.
Stay tuned for more information on the link between clean transportation and good jobs, which is the focus of Apollo’s ongoing Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan project.
One Year Ago, the House Passed Historic Clean Energy and Climate Legislation
On June 26, 2009—one year ago tomorrow—the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, a bill that put a cap and price on carbon emissions, created a national renewable energy standard, upgraded U.S. energy-efficiency standards, and created a revolving loan fund to support clean energy manufacturing, among many other measures.
At the time, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, a key sponsor of the legislation and chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said, “Today the House has passed the most important energy and environment bill in our nation’s history. Scientists say that global warming is a dangerous man-made problem. Today we are saying clean energy will be the American-made solution. This legislation will create jobs by the millions, save money by the billions, and unleash investment in clean energy by the trillions.”
Three hundred and sixty-four days later, America has yet to reap the benefits of this bill’s passage. Why? Because the Senate hasn’t even begun debating a clean energy and climate bill. All signs point to a Senate debate this summer over some kind of an energy bill, but it is still unclear what will be included in the bill. Meanwhile, another year has slipped by.
That year has seen increasing evidence of climate change and the grave threat it poses to our planet. In a recent weekly update, we let you know about the State Department Fifth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. According to the report, “climate-related changes are already observed in the United States and its coastal waters. These include increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice-free seasons in the ocean and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt, and alterations in river flows. These changes are projected to grow.”
Just this week, another report on climate change found that—despite what climate change deniers would have us believe—97 percent of the world’s most widely published climate scientists accept the evidence for global warming and agree that it is caused by human activities.
This year has also seen the U.S. falling behind in the global clean energy race, with our failure to adopt national clean energy policies costing us jobs. GE is expanding its wind manufacturing, engineering and service facilities—not in the U.S., but in Europe. BP Solar shut down a solar manufacturing facility that employed hundreds of workers in Maryland and moved the plant to China. Examples like this abound.
A Pew Charitable Trusts report published in March explained that a country’s climate and energy policy decisions directly impact its competitive position in the global clean energy economy. According to the report, “Those nations—such as China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain—with strong, national policies aimed at reducing global warming pollution and incentivizing the use of renewable energy are establishing stronger competitive positions in the clean energy economy.”
Who’s winning the clean energy race? Well, last year China invested $34.6 billion in the clean energy economy—nearly double what the U.S. invested. And over the last five years, the U.S. also trailed Turkey, Brazil, China, the U.K. and Italy in the rate of clean-energy investment growth.
The passage of ACES one year ago was indeed an extraordinary victory. But now we need to make sure the Senate does its part, for the good of our environment and our economy.
In Other News …
*Read our latest clean energy success story. Algaeventure Systems of Ohio is on the verge of a scientific breakthrough that would revolutionize renewable energy production. The company has developed a technology to extract algae from water at a cost that is 99 percent less than it was using previous technologies, which means algae could become a viable commercial biofuel. Learn more by reading Unleashing Algae Energy: Algaeventure Systems a Model of Innovation in Ohio.
*Join the Apollo Team! Apollo is seeking two new staff members to help us achieve our clean energy, good jobs mission. We are looking for an entrepreneurial, energetic and experienced public relations professional to serve as our national Communications Director. We are also seeking a skilled, experienced, organized and energetic person with strong research and writing skills to work as our Senior Policy Associate. Check out the job listings for more information.
