Environmental, labor propose clean energy investment

A coalition of environmental and labor groups has proposed a national, $100 billion public and private investment program to jump-start a clean energy-based economic surge and create 2 million jobs over two years.The proposal is based on a report, released this week by the Green Jobs for America Campaign, that says a combination of tax credits, loan guarantees to small businesses and direct public investment spending would accelerate a clean energy transition, greatly expanding jobs in civil, environmental, electrical and chemical engineering, steel and metal working, heating and air conditioning, the construction trades and contracting fields.The proposal, which the coalition hopes will be considered next year by a new Congress and a new administration, is less than the $168 billion economic stimulus package carried out by the Bush administration and Congress this spring, and suggests it would create hundreds of thousands more jobs.Seeing manufacturing jobs leave the country "makes it imperative that we take a long, serious look at green investment and green energy solutions for our future and for future generations," said Tony Montana, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers Union, part of the Green Jobs for America Campaign and one of the groups releasing the report."We can create millions of jobs to retrofit our homes and public buildings and make the products and materials used in retrofitting with steel and glass," said Leo W. Gerard, United Steelworkers Union president. "For the USW, our view is simple: Every energy-efficient project creates jobs and jobs in America."Other groups participating in the Green Jobs Campaign include the Blue Green Alliance, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Green for All and Working America.The report, by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the left-leaning Washington D.C.-based research group Center for American Progress, examines the benefits of a "green economic recovery program" that invests in retrofitting buildings, expanding mass transit and freight rail lines, and expanding production of wind power, solar power and advanced biofuels.Hillary Bright, associate regional representative for the Blue Green Alliance, said that in addition to creating jobs and boosting the economy, such an investment will help the nation transition to a clean energy economy and combat global warming. Climate change scientists say that to prevent the worst impacts of global warming the United States needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050."We need to transition to a cleaner energy economy if we want to get where scientists say we need to be in addressing global warming," Bright said. "But this program goes beyond environmental concerns to spur a stagnant economy and stop job loss."Some traditional energy sources, including coal and natural gas, are experiencing booming production nationally. Bright acknowledged the growth in those industries and said that doesn't preclude investment in "greener" energy sources."It's generally accepted that some of those traditional energy sources will need to be used during a transition to greener energy sources and that the transition will not occur overnight," she said. "But we need the investment in those new technologies and energy sources now to get them going and move past fossil fuels."The report proposes $50 billion in tax credits to assist private businesses and homeowners in retrofitting commercial and residential properties and to spur investments in renewable energy. Another $46 billion in direct government spending would be used to support public building retrofits, the expansion of mass transit systems, freight rail improvements and improvements to the electrical grid infrastructure. Federal loan guarantees totaling $4 billion would underwrite private credit extended to finance building retrofits and investments in renewable energy."Now is the time to invest in a green economy and get ahead of the curve," Montana said. "We shouldn't be waiting for India and China to develop and sell us the green energy technology we'll need. We should be the world's leader."(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)