From The Center for American Progress.
 
View the Impact on Iowa section of the report here:  http://images2.americanprogress.org/CAP/2008/09/peri_ia.pdf
Green Recovery Now
The American economy has been heading in the wrong direction for seven years, as conservatives rewrote the rules of the market to reward corporate excess and to deprive American families of economic opportunity. The wave of toxic debt crashing into Wall Street is but a symptom of the broken economic fundamentals that have made good jobs, good education, and good health care harder to find for most Americans year after year. The Bush administration's exploitation economy has drilled our nation to the benefit of oil companies, multinational corporations, and billionaire speculators, leaving the next administration -- and the next generation of Americans -- with a broken economy and planet to repair. The national response to these crises must be swift and wise, stimulating a green recovery with the renewable resources of innovation, hard work, and clean energy. "Green Recovery," a new report published by the Center for American Progress from the University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), explains how a $100 billion stimulus over two years would create two million new jobs in a clean energy economy, with a significant proportion in the struggling construction and manufacturing sectors.GREEN RECOVERY NOW: This $100 billion investment is targeted at six key sectors in building a green economy today: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing smart electrical grid transmission systems and investing in wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels. The vast majority of jobs created would be in already-existing trades, from machinists to truck drivers, roofers to engineers. "The point of view of the Steelworkers is quite simple," said Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers of America (USW), introducing the report. "An energy-efficient green economy creates jobs, and creates jobs in America." "We must fundamentally change the way we produce and consume energy and dramatically reduce our dependence on oil," explained Center for American Progress President and CEO John Podesta. "The economic opportunities provided by such a transformation are vast, not to mention the national security benefits of reducing oil dependence and the pressing need to fight global warming." The Green Recovery program allows Congress to "spend less money than it did on the last economic stimulus package, create more jobs and help stave off catastrophe via climate change." Most of the stimulus goes directly to the private sector, with $50 billion for tax credits and $4 billion for federal loan guarantees. Approximately $46 billion in direct government spending would support public building retrofits, the expansion of mass transit, freight rail, and smart electrical grid systems. This stimulus should be part of a comprehensive low-carbon energy strategy and could be paid for with proceeds from auctions of carbon permits under a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program. BENEFITS TO THE NATION: As the authors of the report will testify before Congress on Thursday, the greatest benefits of investment in a green economy come to those who have been hardest hit by the pollution-based economy. PERI analyzed the green job potential for 34 states across the nation, finding that states with strong industrial sectors and low-income communities battered by outsourcing and left behind by Wall Street and Washington, can see the strongest gains. "This is an opportunity to help Americans pull themselves out of poverty by investing in the green movement," noted Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), whose state has lost 16,000 jobs since January. "The price of oil is taking too big a bite out of working families' paychecks and eliminating too many jobs," Bruce Roy, secretary-treasurer of the Maine AFL-CIO, told the Portland Press-Herald. "Putting up a wind farm creates jobs for machinists, truck drivers, electricians and laborers. Making buildings more energy-efficient requires roofers and insulators." In the words of Michigan state representative Mark Meadows, "We have workers who are waiting to go back to work in Michigan, well over 60,000 of them who would benefit from a program like that, because they have the skill sets that are needed to make this work." Forty-three thousand jobs would be created in Missouri, already benefiting from the construction of new wind farms and biodiesel plants. Eighty-six thousand new jobs in Pennsylvania would dramatically cut unemployment. Tony Montana, a spokesman for the USW, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "That potential growth for good, family-supporting jobs when the economy is down and we see our manufacturing jobs leaving 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."TAKING ACTION NOW: The impending expiration of federal renewable energy tax credits threatens thousands of American jobs. Declaring, "America needs an oil change," Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) fought back on the floor of the House yesterday against the conservative battle-cry of "Drill, baby, drill!" Last night, the House voted 236-189 in favor of H.R. 6899, an "all of the above" energy bill to invest in renewable energy, raise clean energy standards, and expand oil production, paid for by removing oil company tax loopholes. After a month of complaining that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had put Congress on its standard August recess without a vote on an "all of the above" bill, conservatives made repeated motions to adjourn to prevent the vote from occurring. President Bush joined the opposition, threatening to veto the legislation because it removes oil company subsidies. The fight now moves to the Senate, where conservatives have repeatedly filibustered green recovery legislation. Communities are organizing to tell Congress they are ready for green jobs now, under the leadership of a coalition led by Green For All. On Saturday, Sept. 27, the coalition will launch a national mobilization to say, "I'm ready for the green economy." Green Jobs Now is a National Day of Action that will empower everyday people to stage hundreds of grassroots events throughout the country. Van Jones, founder of Green for All and a Center for American Progress senior fellow, writes, "Right now, there are millions of people ready to work and countless jobs to be done that will strengthen our economy at home." 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]

Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp

Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/