ACES Act Includes IMPACT Provisions

Apollo Alliance Applauds Domestic Clean Energy Manufacturing Investments in American Clean Energy and Security Act
Provisions Will Help Manufacturers Retool for Clean Energy Economy, Keep New Green Jobs in America, and Put Nation on Path to Energy Independence

SAN FRANCISCO - Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance, today issued the following statement praising the U.S. House of Representatives for approving critical investments in domestic clean energy manufacturing as part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act:

“The Apollo Alliance commends Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, and other members of the House for their leadership and determination in passing this seminal legislation. The American Clean Energy And Security Act is a giant leap forward to establish energy security, reduce harmful carbon emissions, and create millions of green jobs that will put our citizens back to work and get our economy back on track.

“In particular, the bill’s inclusion of investments to help U.S. manufacturers retool plants and retrain workers to produce the systems and components of the clean energy economy is a major victory that will keep millions of new, green jobs here at home and help revive America’s long suffering manufacturing sector. We offer special praise to Representatives John Boccieri, Zachary Space, and other members of the Ohio Congressional delegation for their insistence on including these investments in manufacturing jobs in the House energy bill.

“The new energy policy will significantly increase demand for clean energy, and we now have a mechanism for meeting that demand and weaning the nation from its dependence on foreign energy suppliers. In addition to creating and keeping jobs in America, investments in domestic manufacturing will allow manufacturers across the country to tap into clean and efficient energy markets.

“As the Senate resumes work on its version of the energy bill, the Apollo Alliance will continue to press legislators on both sides of the aisle to support investments in our domestic manufacturing sector to meet the demands of the new clean energy economy.”

In April, Apollo Alliance released its Green Manufacturing Action Plan (GreenMAP), which detailed aggressive steps to scale up production of American-made clean energy systems and components while making U.S. factories more energy efficient. Last week, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the “Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act of 2009.” Based on Apollo’s GreenMAP, the IMPACT Act would put America’s ailing manufacturing sector on the road to recovery by facilitating the development of domestic clean energy manufacturing and production.

“This confirms that clean energy legislation is an opportunity for Ohio manufacturing,” said Brown. “I applaud Rep. Boccieri for fighting to include the IMPACT Act in the House bill. By creating a funding source to help Ohio manufacturers retool, we can revive Ohio manufacturing through investments in clean energy. This will go a long way toward making Ohio the Silicon Valley of clean energy manufacturing.”

For more information, visit ApolloAlliance.org.

The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor, business, environmental and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs