FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
Suzi Emmerling (CAP): (202) 481-8224
Sam Haswell (Apollo): (415) 371-1700 x201
March 4, 2010
Conference Convened by the Center for American Progress and the Apollo Alliance Explores the Future of the Clean Energy Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Center for American Progress and the Apollo Alliance today co-hosted a conference, “Picking a Winner: How to Make the U.S. a Leader in the Clean Energy Economy,” in which several of America’s leading lawmakers and economic policy experts gathered to explore the future of the clean energy economy, how America’s choices for economic growth fit into the larger context of global trade, and how to position America’s workforce for success in the clean energy marketplace. The groups also released two reports (descriptions below) that offer recommendations for establishing U.S. competitiveness in the global clean energy economy.
Keynote speeches from Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash, drove home the possibilities for America’s leadership in manufacturing, innovation, and clean energy jobs.
“We are in a race with other countries like China that spend $288 million a day to develop clean energy technology,” said Sen. Stabenow. “That’s why I have authored provisions to cut taxes and provide capital to companies that will make these technologies here at home and create new jobs. These investments are critical to ensuring America is the global leader in the clean energy economy. I thank the Apollo Alliance and the Center for American Progress for hosting this conference today and for doing so much to highlight the need for a clean energy manufacturing policy in America.”
“In the new clean energy economy there is no silver medal,” said Rep. Inslee. “By taking advantage of the new clean energy economy, not only can we create millions of new, well paying jobs, we can begin to reverse the climate crisis and wean our nation off foreign oil. The American tradition of innovation is alive and well and by feeding that tradition we will win this race. I would like to thank the Apollo Alliance and the Center for American Progress for putting together this important forum and their continued efforts to bring light to this issue.”
Opening up the conference this morning, John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, said, “If we don’t invest and legislate across the value chain-if we don’t develop a comprehensive policy that focuses also on commercialization, production, deployment, and export-we will look up in 10 years and find ourselves not the great leader on clean energy, but the great buyer of it.”
Apollo Alliance Chairman Phil Angelides offered a similar sentiment: “We’re here today because America is in trouble. We are quickly losing the chance to be a leader in what will be the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century: the global clean energy economy. While other countries are making massive investments in clean energy infrastructure and production-and creating tens of thousands of new jobs as a result-the United States doesn’t even have the capacity to meet its own demand for renewable energy components.”
Two new reports focus on future of U.S. competitiveness in clean energy marketplace
The new report from the Center for American Progress is “Out of the Running? How Germany, Spain, and China Are Seizing the Energy Opportunity and Why the United States Risks Getting Left Behind.” The report examines clean energy policies in each country across three critical areas: markets, financing, and infrastructure. As a result, these countries are pulling far ahead of the United States in clean energy production, installation, and export-and increasingly in clean energy innovation as well. In fact, when clean energy technology product sales were expressed as a proportion of respective gross domestic product, the United States ranked 19th on the list. The report concludes, however, with a clean energy investment agenda that will boost our competitiveness and economy in the United States. Read the full report here.
“Winning the Race: How America Can Lead the Global Clean Energy Economy,” the new report by the Apollo Alliance and Good Jobs First, analyzes the United States’ competitive position in the global race for clean energy manufacturing jobs. It finds that under current policies, the United States stands to lose out on an estimated 100,000 clean energy manufacturing jobs to foreign competitors between now and 2015, and nearly 250,000 manufacturing jobs by 2030 should the nation fail to increase its support for domestic clean energy manufacturing. The report also finds that many U.S. and foreign-based clean energy manufacturing firms are investing money and creating jobs in low-wage countries that are key competitors in the clean energy race. Read the full report at http://www.apolloalliance.org/reports.
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The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of unlikely and diverse interests – including labor, business, environmental, and community leaders – advancing a bold vision for the next American economy centered on clean energy and good jobs.
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values, and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
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