Senate Announces New Green Jobs Subcommittee

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has created a new subcommittee to focus on jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee will be chaired by Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT), while Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) will serve as Ranking Member.

“We’re going to use this subcommittee to do everything we can to create millions of good-paying jobs in the United States as we move forward to a new energy system based on efficiency and sustainable energy,” Senator Sanders said. “The potential for job growth in this area is bigger than almost anything else I can think of.” Other members of the subcommittee are Senators Thomas Carper (D-DE), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (ex officio, D-CA), George Voinovich (R-OH), and James Inhofe (ex officio, R-OK).

EESI held a briefing on January 28 focusing on a recent report by the American Solar Energy Society on the employment and economic impacts of the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in the United States; Germany’s leadership and success in these sectors was also highlighted at the briefing. EESI has also published a factsheet on green jobs and will hold another briefing on the topic on March 2, with more details available here .

More information on the Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee is available through the following links:
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=308170
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Majority.PressReleases...
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090211/NEWS03/90210045/1007...

Click here for more information on EESI’s work on green jobs.