Clean energy means good jobs. It’s that simple. Solving global warming will create millions of good jobs, from weatherizing homes, to installing solar panels, to rebuilding our factories to be more energy efficient.
The United States, however, faces a serious skills shortage in these emerging industries of the future. Last night, by unanimous consent, the Senate showed critical leadership when it passed the Sanders-Clinton Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program, an amendment to the Senate Energy Bill now under debate on Capitol Hill.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), joined by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), and Ken Salazar (D-CO), showed critical leadership in proposing this important legislation. The Center for American Progress Action Fund is proud to support this key investment in the skills of American workers that would launch a $100 million training program to ensure a U.S. economy built on the foundation of high-quality “green collar jobs.”
The CAP Action Fund was glad to join a diverse coalition in supporting the Senate amendment, which included the labor and environmental partnership the Apollo Alliance alongside racial justice and anti-poverty groups such as the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights as well as the AFL-CIO, business and industry groups, and a broad cross section of the environmental movement.
It is time to recognize that jobs and the environment go hand in hand. We cannot have one without the other. The Sanders-Clinton Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program is a critically important measure that will help ensure both our energy independence and economic security as our nation builds a clean and prosperous future for all Americans.
To read the letter of support from John Podesta, Center for American Progress Action Fund President and CEO, please click here.