Green Collar Jobs

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) outlined this week the key policies that President-elect Obama and the Congressional leadership must address to expand the use of solar energy and help put over 1 million Americans back to work by 2011.

HelioPower Technicians Onsite for Solar Ground Mount Project in 2006

SEIA released "Solar Energy: A Blueprint for Job Creation and Economic Security," which recommends that the new Administration and Congress embrace the following policies and programs to expand the creation of clean energy jobs in the United States: Improve solar tax credits; Increase government procurement of solar power; Create tax incentives for manufacturing; Pass a national renewable portfolio standard with a solar provision; Expand and update transmission infrastructure; Improve access to federal lands to harness our vast solar resources; Create a federal Clean Energy Bank; Create the office of Renewable Energy Development; Establish national standards for interconnection and net metering; Increase DOE Solar Appropriations and Enact climate legislation to reduce carbon emissions, stimulate solar generation.

SEIA President Rhone Resch said, "President-elect Obama and the new Congress have expressed their commitment to addressing our current economic crisis. Increasing the use of solar energy will create millions of new jobs and put billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, providing a clean, reliable and domestic source of energy while providing a clean, reliable and domestic source of energy,.

"The growth of solar energy will not happen quickly enough without the right federal policies to stimulate the market and remove fundamental barriers that prevent solar from competing in the electricity marketplace.

"To stimulate this growth, the Solar Energy Industries Association is recommending to the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress a number of immediate and near-term policies to stimulate the growth of solar energy, including: improving the solar investment tax credits to ensure that they can be utilized as Congress originally intended, creating a government procurement program that deploys solar on federal buildings and lands, and establishing a national renewable portfolio standard that requires a specific amount of energy come from solar.

"We look forward to working with the new Administration and the 111th Congress to achieve these important goals for growing our economy, improving our energy independence and reducing global warming."

SEIA Board Chairman Roger Efird of Suntech America said, "For solar energy to reach its potential as an economic engine and become an important part of our national energy portfolio, we need government leaders to continue to enact the right policies. These policies, especially in the current economic crisis, will allow companies like mine to grow and create green jobs that will reverse the trend of sending American jobs overseas. Instead, the U.S. can become a destination for international companies to find the skilled professionals they need to compete in the global renewable energy economy."

SEIA's will deliver the "Solar Energy: A Blueprint for Job Creation and Economic Security" to each member of President-elect Obama's energy and economic transition teams and Congressional leadership.

SEIA is comprised of over 800 member companies that manufacture, distribute, sell, design, own, install and finance solar power plants and systems.

Marc Gunther, Senior Writer at Fortune Magazine, logged today's media article, "Why clean energy is still a good bet."

Despite falling oil prices and the credit crunch, green technology investors remain bullish.

Here is an excerpt from his excellent article, for the full piece click here.

Chico, CA retail building installation by HelioPower

(Fortune) — Some people are saying that the clean energy revolution is over, before it has even begun. "Alternative energy suddenly faces headwinds," declared The New York Times. "Winds shift for renewable energy as oil price sinks, money gets tight," reports The Wall Street Journal. "Will the Economic Crash Take Down Our Hopes for Clean Energy?" asks Alternet.

There's no doubt that recent developments cast a cloud over the renewable energy business. The capital markets have turned risk-averse, making financing for alternative energy hard to come by. Declining oil prices make it harder for cleaner transportation fuels to compete with gasoline. In a slumping economy, the government will be reluctant to pass climate change legislation that will raise gas and electricity rates.

Never mind – there are compelling reasons, even now, to believe that the U.S. is on the verge of a dramatic shift, away from a economy dependent on cheap fossil fuels and towards cleaner, greener, more efficient ways of doing business.

Recently, I spoke with three leading venture capitalists who focus on clean tech: William E. "Wilber" James of Rockport Capital, Alan Salzman of VantagePoint Venture Partners, and Paul Maeder of Highland Capital Partners. Needless to say, they are biased – they are invested, personally and professionally, in renewable energy and other clean technologies.

But they all see powerful forces driving the U.S. economy towards a more sustainable way of doing business in the long run. Those drivers include the science of climate change, rising global demand for a limited supply of fossil fuels, and growing political support for clean energy.

As part of the Economic Recovery Bill, the Federal Incentive Tax Credits supporting the expansion of solar, wind and other sustainable energy technologies in the United States was passed today on the Hill. 

Breaking news from the Wall Street Journal…"House Passes Bailout Bill on Second Try:"

U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers wary of growing signs of the nation's economic distress voted in favor of a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package on Friday, sending the biggest government intervention in the financial markets since the Great Depression to President George W. Bush for his signature.

From RenewableEnergyWorld.com…"Tax Credits Pass: Renewable Energy Industry Breathes Sigh of Relief:"

After a disastrous few weeks on Wall Street, the renewable energy industry has come out a winner. It seems there's always a silver lining in even the worst developments.