The Census data that was just released showed that one third of our nation’s citizens is surviving at or below the level defined as low income, that record a number of American families are without health insurance, that record a number of American families live officially in poverty, and that income disparities increased from 2009 to 2010. This should be no surprise given the number of our citizens who can’t find jobs and the number who have given up even trying to look for work.

Our country has been gifted with a wide range of natural resources and the people to get the most out of them. Making further investments and promoting the exploration and development of our energy resources, safely and efficiently, will lower the operating costs of nearly every business enterprise, will add a significant degree of economic certainty, will deliver results in the near term for a broad spectrum of large and small American businesses, will undergird sustained economic growth, and, oh yes, created thousands of good paying jobs. Energy must be an essential element of President Obama’s job plan.

The President’s job plan should include further exploration of our domestic off-shore oil, gas, and wind resources, investment in infrastructure projects that increase energy efficiency and encourage urban revitalization, and the promotion of responsible shale gas development.

Continued off-shore exploration of our oil resources will not only increase our energy security in a time of heightened international unrest but will also increase the job opportunities of many along our coasts. Of course, every effort must be taken to ensure that this will be done safely and efficiently with minimal impact to our environment, but this opportunity for our nation can’t simply be ignored. The United States lags behind several European and Asian nations in the development of off-shore wind resources, resources which could be the largest renewable energy option available to many Atlantic coast states.

A critical component of the President’s jobs plan should include investments in infrastructure projects, especially in energy infrastructure projects like addressing electric transmission bottlenecks, up grading our electric grid, repairing and improving our pipeline systems, and improving the energy efficiency of our institutional and residential buildings. Such a focus will not only add jobs, but will also help revitalize long neglected urban areas.

Just last month the U.S. Department of Interior dramatically increased the estimates of recoverable natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation to 84 trillion cubic feet. This is an increase of 60 trillion cubic feet over last year’s estimate of 24 trillion cubic feet. Clean and abundant energy such as this will power our nation for decades, creating jobs and supporting industrial growth for many years to come.

Steps such as these will be important for the members of Congress to consider as they take up the President’s jobs plan. Our energy security and economic security go hand in hand; we cannot effectively deal with our economic security without dealing with energy.

Energy efficiency programs are proven, cost-effective job-creators that spur economic growth and put Americans to work – so by definition, efficiency initiatives fit into President Obama’s jobs plan.

Energy efficiency actually creates jobs twice, beginning with the investments that generate good domestic jobs – after all, you can’t outsource installing insulation – and second when consumers spend the money that more efficient homes and vehicles leave in their pockets with businesses that gain the confidence to hire more workers.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst estimate that about 15 jobs are created for every $1 million invested in energy efficiency. And a study by that university along with the U.S. Green Building Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Real Estate Roundtable claims a federal investment of $1.4 billion in upgrading commercial buildings could leverage $7 billion in private spending and create 114,000 jobs.

Importantly at this deficit-conscious time, the returns on efficiency investments far outstrip their up-front costs. The government’s voluntary ENERGY STAR labeling program, now encompassing more than 60 types of products, is a “stellar” example. Over more than a decade, ENERGY STAR has not only made it easy to select the most energy-efficient products for homes and offices, it also has delivered huge savings to consumers and businesses – a whopping $17 billion in 2009 alone!

The power of energy efficiency is now supporting 1.6 million U.S. jobs, cutting our nation’s energy use by a third and saving our economy $500 billion a year – with the potential to save another $1.2 trillion by 2020. We need to continue tapping that enormous potential.

True, President Obama did not explicitly mention energy efficiency in his September 8 speech. But energy efficiency meshes seamlessly with the broad goals, and some of the specific components, of the American Jobs Act.

They include modernizing at least 35,000 public schools; a new “Project Rebuild” that would put people to work rehabilitating homes, businesses and communities; and a program to help hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people find summer jobs next year.

When schools are modernized and homes and other buildings and rehabbed, we expect the work to be done in an energy-efficient manner, with an eye toward energy building codes and ENERGY STAR qualified materials (insulation) and equipment (HVAC). And surely some of those summer jobs would be in energy efficiency projects that, as the president said in a recent speech, could “help set the direction for [the] entire lives” of those young workers, who might eventually pursue studies and careers in the energy efficiency field.

Energy efficiency initiatives are not only custom-made for today’s tough economy, they also are a good fit for the contentious political climate. Energy efficiency programs traditionally enjoy bipartisan support and could be among the job-creating proposals that actually reach the president’s desk to be enacted into law.

So we urge Congress to put Americans to work making and deploying energy-efficient products for schools, homes and businesses, thereby fulfilling the president’s call to produce more goods labeled “Made in America.”

President Obama’s proposal to jumpstart the economy will help, but more can be done. American manufacturing, in particular, can be a major jobs engine, if we make energy part of the strategy. One of the most promising opportunities for manufacturing jobs, shale gas development, cannot be overlooked.

Natural gas can help revitalize the nation’s industrial base. Between 1999 and 2005, U.S. natural gas prices quadrupled, and manufacturing shed more than 5.5 million jobs. More than 140,000 of those jobs were in the chemistry industry, which relies on natural gas for heat and power as well as a raw material for thousands of products.

Fortunately, with the new domestic shale gas discoveries, that worrisome trend has reversed. Chemical companies have announced huge new investments in large-scale manufacturing facilities from the Gulf Coast to Appalachia. Natural gas from shale has transformed the U.S. chemical industry’s international competitiveness: Despite a poor economy in 2010, chemistry exports increased 15 percent, shifting the industry’s balance of trade from a $140 million deficit two years ago to a $4.6 billion surplus.

Shale gas can help many of the states hardest hit by the Great Recession. As we have begun to see already, states like West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania are prime locations new petrochemical facilities or expanded production, given their vast shale gas resources. A recent American Chemistry Council study found that a new petrochemical complex in Ohio would generate $7.5 billion in new chemical industry output, 17,000 Ohio jobs in chemistry and supplier industries, $1 billion in wages and $169 million in state tax revenue.

Nationally, our study projected nearly 400,000 new jobs in chemical and supplier industries, boosting U.S. economic output by more than $132 billion. Many of these are advanced manufacturing jobs the United States wants to expand. Chemistry companies are leaders in developing next-generation energy-efficient and clean energy products and technologies used in everything from lightweight automobile parts and building insulation to solar panels and lithium batteries. In a very real way, we are one of today’s ‘green jobs’ industries.

The National Petroleum Council’s North American Resource Development report, published today, attests to the importance of natural gas to the chemistry industry: “The availability of abundant low cost natural gas is helping to revitalize several industries, including petrochemicals, leading to several billions of dollars of new investment in domestic industrial operations that would not been anticipated half a decade ago…When manufacturers use natural gas as a fuel and feedstock, they create a variety of products that are used every day. These products are valued at greater than eight times the cost of the natural gas used to create them, providing significant benefit to the nation’s economy.”

In his speech, President Obama asked: “What’s the best way to grow the economy and create jobs?” One answer is to ensure continued robust development of domestic shale gas.

(These comments were submitted by Jackie Roberts, Director of Sustainable Technologies in the Environmental Defense Fund’s National Climate Campaign.)

The President’s response to the call for jobs now is necessarily focused on short-term triggers. But, we must simultaneously seed the jobs for the next two to five years, or we will just keep putting ourselves back into the same hole. These so-called “medium term jobs” must come from growth sectors in the global economy where the U.S. has skills and ideas to offer. To me, the most promising of those sectors are health care and clean energy & resource management.

It is in the latter area that the U.S. needs to, as David Brooks recently described, “set the table” with policies that create customers for the many small to large businesses that are striving to participate in this new sector. In our survey of clean energy businesses, 73% are small businesses with less than 50 employees. Of these, according to market research by Frost & Sullivan, one third believed that the failure to pass clean energy legislation last year had an effect on their business and 7 out of 10 thought their sales would increase if the U.S. passed new policies to reduce greenhouse gases.

When business of all sizes know that they are going to have customers – not just today from a short term stimulus or other plan, but customers derived from a long term commitment by our country to move to clean energy and less air pollution – they can hire permanent employees. In California, where the state has been slowly but steadily setting the table with rules for cleaner vehicles, a renewable portfolio standard, the Global Warming Solutions Act and energy efficient building codes, the clean energy sector is a growing source of jobs. For example, according to Next 10 report from May 2011, jobs in manufacturing of clean energy and resource management activities grew 19% between 1995 and 2008 while total manufacturing employment in the state dropped 9%.

Without creating customers, “clean energy jobs” workforce training programs become a bridge to nowhere, the promise of clean energy jobs falters and businesses remain faced with lots of uncertainty and a natural reluctance to permanently hire new people. The National Infrastructure Bank and rebuilding schools will hopefully create customers for some of these firms. But what businesses really need to hire people is the prospect of customers over the medium-term. We need Presidential leadership on federal clean energy policies to help deliver a steady-stream of customers and seed the jobs of tomorrow.

(These comments were submitted by Michael H. Schwartz, CEO of New Wave Energy Capital Partners, LLC.)

The President in his address to the Congress put forward proposals that would funnel funding to public infrastructure (such as roads, bridges and airports), create consumer demand and promote private-sector job creation. The same burning platform for economic revitalization has also created a window of opportunity for the US to establish a foundation for sustainably propelling private sector investment in fossil and renewable energy. Focused initiatives in these areas can be linked with comprehensive federal energy policies initiatives in the next Congress, but we should not wait for all the political “stars to align” in order to make progress. Now is the time to act.

For three decades we have failed to take full advantage of the entrepreneurship, project management competencies, capital and technology strengths of American companies to achieve the economic revitalization that would inevitably be associated with achieving credible goals for increasing domestic oil production, expanding markets for domestic natural gas and creating a clean energy industry.

Looking back over a career which has spanned some 35 years across the US energy industry in oil/gas, coal, utilities, renewable and alternative energy, I believe that we can call upon enormous intellectual and capital resources to jump-start and sustain domestic economic development and we must. These resources include in excess of $400 billion in gross annual capital outflows associated with the purchase of imported energy supplies, billions of dollars in annual tax expenditures to support conventional fossil fuels and renewable energy, a significant portion of the trillion dollars in off-shore retained earnings held by US companies, billions of dollars of side-lined equity and debt capacity held by strategic and financial investors, the ability to use regulatory reforms to shape the investment landscape and the ability to create new market-based “currencies” to drive investment, create good paying US jobs – all without the need for federal expenditures.

Here are several positive steps that we might take.

First, we need very different policies to mobilize capital investment not only at the project level but also across the supply chain for clean energy. For two decades now, we have seen renewable energy mature from a boutique curiosity to a significant industry, notwithstanding the fact that it has been based upon Balkanized state programs and episodic federal tax credits. It is no wonder that although the aggregate investment appears large, the associated “green jobs” have been slow to develop. Unlike countries such as China that insure that domestic manufacturing substantively benefits from its policies, we have not provided the support for American manufacturers necessary for them to take a leadership position across the supply chain. Further, how can we hope to mobilize capital when our policies are based upon federal tax incentives that effectively discourage participation in US clean energy by offshore and other non-tax efficient investors. This is no way to build a scaled domestic industry that will drive sustainable job creation for American workers, especially in the face of intense international competition.

Second, following from point one, implement a properly structured federal Clean Energy Standard (CES) that is based upon the principles of technology agnosticism, federalism and market liquidity. This CES would integrate a long-term compliance trajectory of two decades or more; would insure a broad technology base that includes renewables, nuclear power and clean coal; and would create a new “currency” in the form of Clean Energy Certificates (CECs). The goal would be to allow the United States to transform and modernize our electric generation fleet and infrastructure, while minimizing federal intervention in the economy, preserving state prerogatives and driving massive private sector investment. A “Clean Energy Deployment Reserve” funded with “reserved” CECs and a new Energy Investment Trust (“EIT”) to provide clean energy financing should also be integral to such a properly structured CES. Good policy design would propel the accelerated commercial-scale deployment of electric vehicles/infrastructure, carbon capture and storage, and important investments to support the commercial development of advanced energy technologies that will help close the “technology gap.”

Third, rather than simply eliminating all federal tax incentives for domestic oil and gas production we should couple such incentives to crude price and reallocate the industry’s tax subsidies to support alternative investments in the oil and gas sector designed to reduce the capital outflows associated with oil imports and mitigate geopolitical risks. First, increase unconventional crude production, through initiatives such as carbon-dioxide-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) that will also drive investment in carbon capture and carbon pipeline infrastructure. Second, expand the market for domestic natural gas in the transportation sector(focusing on heavy haul vehicles and fleets). Third, modernize our distressed refining sector, to reduce US dependence upon increasingly scarce light crudes (such as produced in Libya).

Fourth, we need policies that provide a window for repatriation of retained offshore earnings by US energy companies and link the effective tax rate to the use of the repatriated capital. For example, capital reallocated to domestic investment in the energy sector, including clean energy, would be taxed at a lower marginal rate than capital used for a stock repurchase.

Many may say that given the fractious political atmosphere in Washington now is not the time for ambitious new policy constructs. However, leaders of both parties assert that they are committed to economic revival and to strengthening the nation’s foundation. We have a window of opportunity to come together as a people not only to address our near-term needs to jump-start economic growth but also to begin to solve vexing long-standing issues. Wilson Churchill said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.”

Last week President Obama dismissed what should have been a crucial foundation of his jobs plan—advocating for American energy.

The American oil and natural gas industry, with independent producers leading the way, has been a catalyst for job creation, even in the midst of our nation’s economic woes. In 2010 alone, the activities of independent oil and gas companies accounted for almost 4 million jobs. This is no statistical trick— that’s 3 percent of all jobs in the United States.

Instead of promoting this incredible job creation, Obama’s plan for jobs targets the oil and natural gas industry. What Obama mischaracterizes as “closing the tax loopholes” for the oil and natural gas industry is actually overthrowing the historic tax structure that has encouraged industry investment—and therefore jobs for the American people—for decades. Thus, in his jobs plan, Obama is ironically targeting the very investment that creates well-paying jobs for the American people.

America’s oil and natural gas producers, if unleashed from burdensome regulations, can become an even stronger building block for job creation and lasting economic recovery. But the Obama jobs plan, which discourages American energy production, will end up devastating an American workforce that is both productive and growing. This is not so much a plan as it is a wild risk that the American people, desperate for work, cannot afford.

A jobs plan that successfully gets Americans working again must include an energy policy that not only encourages development of America’s vast reserves of oil and natural gas but invests in the millions of jobs that America’s independent producers create.

Keeping energy plentiful and affordable is key to American economic recovery and job growth. Two recent economic analyses byhttp://www.ihs.com/info/gi/ "> IHS Global Insight/CERA and Wood Mackenzie conclude that increased access to domestic reserves could provide a strong boost to U.S. job growth, GDP and Federal tax receipts.

The President’s speech to Congress on September 8th did not say anything explicitly about clean energy. But the provisions mentioned that might promote clean energy jobs were the federal infrastructure bank idea and the project to fix up our nation’s schools with energy efficient equipment, along with some others.

These projects are good starts, but there may be some ways to accomplish the same results without Congressional approval. I suggest a few here: all propose “leading from behind” the states, which have proven the consistent leaders and job creators on clean energy for the last decade.

First, while the national infrastructure bank is a good idea, it may have rough sledding in Congress. The Administration might consider an alternative: fund existing or new state-level infrastructure banks that finance conventional projects like roads but also new clean energy technologies.

· According to FHA, 32 states and Puerto Rico have state-run infrastructure banks, which have distributed over $6.2 billion to 609 projects as of 2008. Most cover transportation but some include energy and water. If a new federal institution can’t work, fund state-level banks with more capital to expand their lending and job creating capacity.

· Taking up on this theme, Connecticut was the first state to create a state-level green energy bank (modeled after the first national-level Green Investment Bank in the UK). The Connecticut bank, managed by the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), will start with an initial $50 million for state investment, which is expected to leverage multiples of private capital. Instead of creating a new federal institution, a federal program could send capital to state green banks that have more projects than they can finance, immediately creating new jobs.

Second, many states have created new economic development programs and policies for clean energy – the Administration could direct funds (reprogrammed or repurposed rather than new funds) to these states to expand their job creating programs without creating a new federal bureaucracy.

· To date, over 20 states have created a varied array of these public investment vehicles to invest in clean energy pursuits with revenues often derived from small public-benefit surcharges on electric utility bills. Over the last decade, state clean energy funds have invested over $2.7 billion in state dollars to support renewable energy markets while leveraging another $9.7 billion in additional federal and private sector investment, with the resulting $12 billion flowing to the deployment of over 72,000 projects in the United States ranging from solar installations on homes and businesses to wind turbines in communities.

· Many states have now moved beyond project finance to support active economic development programs, including cluster development, supply chain analysis, workforce training, and various forms of company investments. But this work is underfunded and they could do more to create jobs with additional support. This kind of local job creation for smaller companies is the typical engine of economic growth in the United States.

· As part of any federal jobs program, the Administration should consider some form of matching state fund program to extend the reach of these state economic development programs in clean energy. This could be millions, not billions of dollars, again in repurposed or reprogrammed funds, which could perhaps be done without new congressional legislation.

For jobs creation, especially in clean energy where there is little federal bipartisan support, creating new federal agencies and programs may not be the answer.

In addition, relying on state experts who are closer to their markets and their companies might avoid some of the Solyndra controversies in the future. For decades, state officials have created policies and made or approved investments in energy technology and companies to build out the fossil fuel and nuclear energy infrastructure we now have. For a hundred years, through our heavily regulated, monopoly electric generation system, trillions of dollars of government directed support has gone to our network of energy technologies, utilities and companies.

Now that system is slowly moving toward clean energy. Unless electric generation becomes deregulated, a good experiment that largely stalled in the 1990s, state government will remain a big investor in that transition from a fossil fuel economy to cleaner energy technologies.

Future job creation in clean energy should respect, not ignore, these state level historical trends and institutional frameworks. The Administration might pay closer attention to this issue as well. For in conservative federalist fashion, additional Administration support for these states might avoid federal controversies and jumpstart the clean energy segments of the local economies with minimal delay.

Last month, the U.S. economy added so few jobs that the unemployment rate held at 9.1% for the general population and a staggering 16.7% for African Americans. Millions of our fellow citizens are still unable to earn the income needed to care for themselves or their families.

In light of this bleak economic news, President Obama—not one to side-step difficult issues—decided to delay EPA’s ozone standard until at least 2013 when it’s due for a standard review under the rules laid out in the Clean Air Act. This decision was received with jeers on one side and cheers on the other. Yet, both sides need to understand the other’s perspective in order to enjoy any genuine progress on the issue.

From an environmental perspective, the current ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 75 parts per billion (ppb) is already several years old, no one should be surprised by them but advocates for stricter standards should await the courts. From industry’s perspective, alternatives to current practices must protect both economic and health interests of the American public. That means regulatory directives need to be cost-effective—especially since now is the worst time in decades to do anything that would further hamstring our economic competitiveness, reduce or relocate jobs, hurt the spending capability of American families, or reduce industry’s ability to invest in infrastructure improvements.

Unfortunately, neither side seems to acknowledge the fact that the White House’s decision to delay a move on the ozone standard was not a partisan decision but an American one. From all indications, our economy is in an extremely fragile state, and we cannot afford any new regulatory action that runs the risk of hindering prospects for recovery. President Obama did not throw out the either the environmental concerns or economic concerns. Instead, he chose to give the economy a bit more time to recover before regulatory officials revisit these standards.

Congress is clearly at an impasse even when dealing with some of the country’s most straightforward issues. If we are to overcome this present roadblock to greater policy certainty, EPA and industry will need to redouble their cooperative efforts to find a workable solution.

Continuous partisan bickering, persistent ideological stonewalling, and perpetual incivility are too expensive. And our hardworking families simply cannot afford them.

While U.S. job creation has been and continues to be a major area of focus for the Obama administration and overall economic recovery, the role of green jobs in decreasing domestic unemployment was not articulated in the President’s most recent jobs proposal. In fact, energy efficiency programs will play a critical role in this effort. And while there was no direct mention in President Obama’s recent speech, many of us read between the lines, understanding that green jobs are certainly a good way to support job growth.

We have seen first-hand that energy efficiency initiatives can create jobs, and in turn, allow businesses to re-invest in their operations and employees by reducing their amount of monthly spend on energy.

Aside from the undeniable environmental benefits of helping make businesses, schools and government buildings more energy efficient, there is real secondary economic benefit from these types of programs – a platform for sustained, domestic job growth. Energy efficiency shouldn’t start and stop with just more efficient lighting. There is a unique give and take that can be achieved with combination of energy demand and supply efforts – and those efforts can mean more jobs.

In fact, it is closely linked to the creation and integration of new energy technologies. Energy efficiency technologies continue to advance at an astounding rate. We see new LED lighting technology, for example, getting to the market quicker than in the past, with ever-increasing quality and ever-decreasing cost. Research and development of green technologies will result in new jobs over the immediate, medium and long-term timeframes.

With all of this growth potential in mind, it is important to ensure the government’s regulatory efforts are not hindering further economic growth and expansion. We need a flexible marketplace that allows for innovation. In fact, any mention of green job creation in the final bill should avoid an a priori selection of winners. Traditional market drivers will do a good job of separating wheat from chaff on its own.

With more and more energy efficiency programs in development and implementation, there is a lot of potential to create green energy jobs. Keep in mind that the manufacturing of new energy efficiency products or new technologies for alternative energy generation is not enough. For a long-term economy that fully harnesses green technologies, there needs to be more integration and buy-in to optimize results. Gone are the days where installing solar panels was enough. They now must be used in a way to optimize the traditional utility/ratepayer relationship with a new way of balancing supply, demand and alternative energy generation. There needs to be a continuous focus on new technologies and practices to support sustained, long-term job growth.

When we look to the future, it is clear that job growth is a must and one of the ways to achieve that growth is through continued investment in energy efficiency programs – an effort that will not only bring jobs back to America, but also will benefit the environment and help to solidify our domestic position as a global energy and environmental leader.

Policies to advance energy innovation can play a critical role in jump-starting the economy. In particular,the electric drive industry can provide a variety of economic benefits, not only in expanding clean energy jobs and domestic manufacturing, but also growing U.S. competiveness in globally-sought products and technology.

The electric drive industry is already helping to generate more jobs. For example, according to the 2011 Brookings Report, “Sizing the Green Economy,” the electric drive industry employed nearly 16,000 workers in 2010, and that number has been projected to grow exponentially as significant transitions from electric drive transportation occur.

Specific examples include EnerDel, which added 1,400 jobs at its Indiana- based EV lithium-ion battery plant and plans to add another 3,000 to meet growing demand. California-based charging station manufacturer Coulomb Technologies has created hundreds of jobs over the early stages of vehicle electrification efforts, and A123 Systems battery factory in Livonia, Mich., has generated nearly 400 jobs.

The President recently called for expanding investments in the nation’s infrastructure, which will put Americans to work. It is also a prime opportunity to make sure that we are paving the way for our transportation future. With the recent announcement of the Administration’s plans to raise the fuel efficiency standards for passenger vehicles to 54.5 miles per gallon (MPG) by 2025, it has become increasingly clear that the overall U.S. vehicle fleet will undergo a fundamental transformation in the next ten years.

This transformation will include not only passenger vehicles, but also trucks, trains, and buses. And a significant part of this transformation will be the increased electrification of the entire U.S. fleet. As electric drive vehicles advance in the marketplace, our transportation policies must reinforce the establishment of electrified vehicles and the associated charging and refueling infrastructure.

The U.S. spends nearly a billion dollars a day on importing foreign oil. Promoting the electrification of the entire U.S. fleet will not only create an opportunity to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will grow the U.S. electric drive industry – from miners to manufacturers, entrepreneurs and equipment installers, scientists and salespeople. The supply chain that will serve the needs of the next generation of transportation will be a source of good clean energy jobs, as well as increased national and economic security. Federal investment in the electric drive infrastructure will also spur state and local government investments.

Even within existing funds, there are opportunities to advance 21st century transportation options. For example, many “Highway Bill” programs could be updated to more effectively recognize electric drive vehicle and infrastructure options.

The President’s plan for infrastructure investment should similarly incorporate that vision of an electric drive future and ensure that our highways and roads lead us away from oil dependence and toward economic security.

President Obama recognizes, as he stated in his speech last week, that the continuing evolution of America’s biofuel industry is critical to reestablishing this country as the world’s leader in innovation. In fact, America’s ethanol industry is already meeting many of President Obama’s goals when it comes to creating jobs and groundbreaking advancements in renewable energy technology. America’s ethanol industry is the largest, most dynamic in the world. It is helping to employ more than 400,000 Americans while producing enough ethanol to displace all of the oil we import from nations like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and others. It is also expanding its global reach by overtaking Brazil as the leading exporter of clean, renewable fuel.

To be certain, President Obama’s ambitious jobs agenda includes a number of provisions, like the payroll tax cuts, that would help ethanol companies and their employees. Additionally, ending wasteful subsidies for large, multi-national oil companies would help level the playing field for existing and emerging biofuels. However, keeping America’s ethanol industry growing and evolving does not require sweeping new legislation. Rather, a recommitment to the policies and programs already in place would solidify America’s existing ethanol industry and shore up confidence in investors seeking to bring the next generation of ethanol and biofuel technologies to the market.

Specifically, the Obama Administration and this Congress must ensure that the Renewable Fuels Standard, and the ambitious goals included there in, remains strong. Any effort that revamps, revises, or repeals the RFS must be rejected. The RFS is a central pillar in America’s future energy policy and is absolutely essential to emerging advanced and cellulosic ethanol producers.

Additionally, President Obama and Congress must recognize that America needs to modernize its motor fuel infrastructure. Tax incentives already in place for the installation of gas pumps that can offer a wide range of fuel choices, including fuel containing up to 85 percent ethanol, should be extended and the definition of what infrastructure qualifies be expanded. This was part of the ethanol tax compromise that was proposed this summer and should be part of any tax package. Coupled with this tax credit extension a committed effort to expand the production and sale of flexible fuel vehicles in the U.S. must be made.

Lastly, we must continue to invest in new ethanol and biofuel technologies. Loan guarantee programs, tax credits, and a strong RFS are key ingredients in the recipe that keeps America on the cutting edge of renewable fuel development.

America’s ethanol industry looks forward to working with President Obama and Congress on this kind of job-creating, innovation-incenting agenda.

Last week, President Obama's outline aimed at putting Americans back to work and generally bolstering the economy. The country’s infrastructure, in particular our building stock, is in grave need of basic investment. As buildings account for approximately 40% of total U.S. energy cost, upgrading them to 21^st century efficiency standards can put people to work and reduce operating expenses for existing businesses large and small.

Specifically in commercial buildings, we know that fixing the tax incentive for energy efficient commercial buildings, IRC Section 179D, could create 77,000 additional additional jobs. Today if a business wastes more energy than their competitor they get a bigger business expense tax deduction under federal and state laws...but if businesses invest in energy efficiency projects the tax consequences can be quite negative.

This imbalance can and should be addressed through tax policies. I hope Congress will strongly consider the common sense tax fix promoted by USGBC, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Real Estate Roundtable. Together with the building infrastructure investments recommended by the President these changes in public policy can make a difference for the hard-hit building sector. By investing in our built environment, we stimulate our economy, we save energy, save people money and we put Americans back to work. Part of that bargain is, of course, a greener environment for us and future generations.

Investing in geothermal power and other renewable energy technologies will help create jobs, spur economic growth and position the US as a world leader in these new industries. Oil and gas may involve many more jobs today, but the enormous potential of renewable energy in the years ahead cannot be discounted. This summer the geothermal power industry may be adding only a few thousand new jobs primarily in Nevada and California as it develops a few hundred megawatts, but with earlier stage project in development in 15 states involving thousands of megawatts, this summer's jobs tally is just the beginning -- and unlike oil and gas we have only begun to tap the potential of geothermal energy!

The Obama Administration and many in both parties in Congress have supported initiatives to grow these industries recognizing their immediate benefits and longer-term significance as the industries of the future. Now is the time to extend and expand support for renewable energy as part of a bi-partisan jobs and economic growth initiative.

So, what should the President have added to his message? First, we need to extend federal renewable energy tax credits which begin to expire in 2012 and 2013. Federal tax credits have been the backbone of support for sustained industry growth since they were expanded to all renewable technologies in the 2005 Energy Policy Act.

We are quickly approaching the downhill slope of the rollercoaster of federal tax policies. A geothermal project started today would not likely be able to be "on line" by the current tax incentive deadline which is now roughly two years away. Extending the existing renewable credits through 2016, as proposed for geothermal energy in bi-partisan House and Senate legislation, would be a good start for sustaining growth of these industries.

Second, the President could initiate a bi-partisan effort to cut the red-tape and bureaucracy that hampers renewable energy growth. Curiously, both the Administration and House Republicans have undertaken initiatives to do so, but they have done so separately. But to make serious progress, there needs to be a bi-partisan effort working on administrative and legal reforms. This is not a minor issue. Federal permitting and other delays can as much as double the cost of a geothermal power project. Streamlining the bureaucracy can encourage growth and cut costs to both government and industry.

Third, the President could take a leadership role in addressing desperately needed improvements in the transmission grid. This is one area where the Administration could take action unilaterally by supporting delegation by the Department of Energy to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of authority to conduct congestion studies and designate corridors for interstate electric transmission projects.

These three steps will help build momentum for new jobs today and US leadership in the energy industries of the future. Maybe they missed the cut for the President's speech, but it's not too late for the Administration and Congress to take action on them.

(These comments were submitted by Brigham McCown, who served as the first Acting Administrator of the Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).)

What can the Obama administration do to reduce unemployment by Election Day 2012? Looks as if they already have a plan.

President Obama wants to utilize speedy infrastructure permitting as a means of spurring timely job growth and will continue to promote “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects as a way of promoting economic recovery. When the President does so, he should highlight the Keystone XL pipeline project—another infrastructure project that would not only help to create thousands of jobs while simultaneously reducing our reliance on imported oil from the Mideast.

The $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline project would in fact open the door to thousands of new, well-paying American jobs. It would do so directly by creating new jobs devoted to construction and maintenance of the pipeline, and indirectly by creating new opportunities in the refining, distribution and sales sectors.

Opportunities such as Keystone XL are real, and offer into immediate employment which in turn promotes economic recovery by boosting our GDP. And the best part is that it will do so without imposing a cost on taxpayers.

Pipelines are no new kid on the block when it comes to our nation’s energy infrastructure—they’re our least costly and most reliable option for getting energy from where it’s produced to where it’s needed.

A single pipeline transporting 150,000 barrels per day moves a volume equivalent to 750 tanker trucks or seventy-five rail tank cars. Products transported through the more than 2.3 million miles of regulated lines account for approximately sixty-four percent of the total energy products consumed in the United States each year.

The President is acutely aware of the potential new infrastructure projects bring to the job debate, and Keystone should be applauded for its resolve to commit to such a large project under trying economic conditions. By paying heed to its own analysis, the Administration will recognize and promote the tremendous growth opportunities presented by private sector projects such as Keystone XL, and give the green light to Keystone XL and to economic growth.

(These comments were jointly written by Weiss, CAP senior fellow Bracken Hendricks and CAP special assistant Adam James.)

Here are some key clean energy provisions in the American Jobs Act that would create tens of thousands of jobs.

Investing in infrastructure. The American Jobs Act prominently features direct investments of $50 billion to modernize America’s crumbling infrastructure, which receives poor grades by experts. These projects will include support for major new energy projects such as from transit and rail to smart grid and transmission projects. Airport improvements and highway repairs can save energy, too.

Establishing an independent national infrastructure bank. The proposed first National Infrastructure Bank would also invest in clean technologies. Capitalized at $10 billion, it would leverage at least $100 billion in private capital investment, financing new plants and new projects to boost American competitiveness. Off-shore wind projects are one example of stalled clean energy infrastructure, with no projects built to date. But there are 488 megawatts of new projects already permitted. The backlog could be cleared with seed capital from the new infrastructure bank. The offshore wind industry created 60,000 jobs, from 2004 to 2008 in Europe—testament to what we can achieve on our shores, too.

Modernizing at least 35,000 public schools. Upgrading our schools and classrooms to relieve overcrowding can save energy as well. Making schools more energy efficient and using recycled materials create thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs. Materials used in building energy retrofits are 90 percent made in America, and 91 percent of companies are small businesses.

“Project Rebuild.” This new program will make $15 billion available to rehire construction workers to rehabilitate vacant and foreclosed homes to stabilize neighborhoods and bolster real estate markets. Making these houses more energy efficient must be part of these efforts. Efficiency will cut utility bills and make home ownership more affordable and improve long-term property values.

Extending 100 percent expensing in 2012. Extending 100 percent expensing will allow firms to take an immediate deduction on investments in new plants and equipment. This measure doesn’t single out clean energy but does allow plants to modernize through advanced practices such as “co-generation,” which uses waste heat to cut costs for manufacturers even as it cuts pollution.

Supporting smart regulations that protect Americans. The president also made clear he opposes efforts to undo or delay health and regulations environmental rules that have long driven markets for advanced technology and helped give rise to new industries. Numerous studies find that such protections create jobs by spurring investment in the manufacture, installation, and maintenance of pollution control equipment. A University of Massachusetts analysis, for example, finds that the Cross State Air Pollution rule, which requires power plants to reduce their sulfur and nitrogen emissions that pollute other states, and the proposed reduction in mercury and other toxics from power plants would create a total of 1.5 million jobs.

In addition to the American Jobs Act, Congress should pass a package of incentives to make homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient. The Home Star , Building Star, and Rural Star programs encourage families and businesses to make their buildings more energy efficient, saving them money and creating thousands of jobs. The bills enjoy strong bipartisan support in Congress and are backed by a broad coalition of industries and consumer groups.

Make no mistake, clean energy is leading the recovery. In fact, clean energy jobsgrew 8.3 percentbetween 2003 and 2009, nearly double the rate of the economy overall. And just three programs in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 accounting for only 1 percent of total spending resulted in fully 13 percent of total ARRA jobs. As a result of these and other timely investments, the United States is now a net exporter of solar products to China to the tune of nearly $2 billion a year.

President Obama’s American Jobs Act makes important strides toward job creation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and lower pollution. Clean energy jobs boast a great track record. Now it’s up to Congress to do its job and pass this bill.

President Obama’s decision to omit traditional energy from his jobs plan conflicts with his own administration’s data. Labor Department figures show that the oil and gas industry has been creating jobs as the economy has been losing them.

Since the recession started in December 2007, the U.S. economy has lost 105,000 jobs. Meanwhile, our oil and gas sector has worked to add 20,300 new American workers.

This growth becomes even more impressive when considering the hostile environment in which U.S. oil firms have accomplished it.

In that same period, the White House extended moratoriums on oil and gas exploration and reversed plans to open up portions of the Eastern Gulf and the Atlantic coast to production of the nation’s vast natural resources. The Obama administration also singled out fossil fuels for increased tax proposals. And 75 new major regulations have been enacted while total spending on federal regulatory activities grew by more than $7.6 billion, since the President took office.

What economic strides would have been possible had Washington not shown such hostility toward the traditional fuel industry and business at large? Wall Street Journal editorial writer Mary Anastasia O’Grady points to Canada as real world case study:

Canada has outperformed the U.S. since [the first quarter of 2009]. In 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund, Canada grew at 3.2% versus 2.9% in the U.S. In 2011, the IMF estimates Canada will grow at 2.9%; unemployment is now 7.3%. The IMF’s U.S. growth forecast is 2.5% this year, and U.S. unemployment is 9.1%.

One explanation for Canada’s more robust growth is its strong commitment to energy, which has become more valuable in U.S. dollar terms under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s inflationary policies. Alberta is now producing two million barrels per day but expects that number will grow to four to five million within a decade.

Alberta’s oil and gas industry supports more than 271,000 direct jobs and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and financial services. The province has an unemployment rate of 5.6%. There are also some 960 American companies involved in Alberta energy, supplying equipment and technology, among other things. As an example, Mr. Liepert says, “dozens of Caterpillar tractors, made in Illinois and Michigan and costing $5 million a piece” work the oil sands. He says the region is on track to create more than 400,000 direct American jobs by 2035. The Bakken region of North Dakota, where private land ownership gives drillers relief from federal obstructionism, shares a similar, if smaller, story. Oil production there is booming, and North Dakota unemployment is 3.3%.

Earlier this month, the consulting firm Woods Mackenzie released a study demonstrating the U.S. could enjoy similar benefits. It found developing our nation’s offshore oil and shale gas could create over 1 million jobs and produce $800 billion in tax revenue over the next two decades. And IHS Global Insight-CERA found that in just a single year measures to increase the pace of federal permitting for oil and gas production could generate:

· 230,000 U.S. jobs

· over $44 billion to U.S. GDP; and

· nearly $12 billion in federal and state tax and royalty revenues

Contrast this with the performance of so called “green energy” investments. Studies of the experience in countries like Spain concluded that every green job cost at least twice as much as a non-green job. America’s experience has been no more encouraging. The 2009 stimulus bill provided $60 billion in loan guarantees in the U.S. for the renewable energy lobby. What has it produced? Not much.

Taxpayers will likely not recoup the more than $500 million of that which went to the now bankrupt solar firm Solyndra, which is now being investigated for possible fraud. The same is true for stimulus funds handed over to Evergreen, Inc., as Investor’s Business Daily reports:

The Massachusetts company that the White House once said “is hoping to hire 90 to 100 people” thanks to stimulus money has $485.6 million in debt. Evergreen closed a factory in March, reports the Boston Herald, and cut 800 jobs. A Michigan plant is to be shut down, as well, causing the loss of even more jobs.

Evergreen isn’t the only supposed conservation company that can’t make it even when fronted with piles of taxpayer money. Green Vehicles of Salinas, Calif., which has burned through more than $500,000 in money “invested” by the city, folded last month without having produced anything of significance.

History and the experience of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation 40 years ago should have made the Obama Administration wary of attempting to substitute its judgment and preferences for those of private sector investments. The President and his advisors would do well to read the late historian, Barbara Tuchman’s book: The March of Folly.

President Obama’s plans to generate new jobs must start with creating a healthy economy. And secure, affordable energy and raw materials are the right prescription for the healthy economy. Building biorefineries for advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products can generate sustainable economic growth and create jobs in three ways.

First and foremost, biorefineries leverage U.S. leadership in biotechnology and agricultural production, creating markets for products made in America from U.S. research and development. More than 1.4 million U.S. workers are employed in the biosciences, and that number actually grew by 200,000 new jobs between 2001 and 2008. That job growth outpaced the national average by more than 15 percent. U.S. agricultural productivity has also increased – by an average of 1.6 percent each year between 1948 and 2008 – even while land use and other inputs decreased. Building biorefineries in the United States will maintain our leadership in research and development and manufacturing, revitalizing industries and saving domestic jobs.

Second, building advanced biorefineries will also create new jobs – in construction, plant operations, continued research and development, and transportation. Creating a new industry requires huge investments in infrastructure. The advanced biofuels industry could generate more than 800,000 net new jobs by 2022 by meeting the goals of the Renewable Fuel Standard. This is consistent with the USDA’s projection of jobs and economic growth from production of new bioenergy crops for the RFS. Additionally, a new report forthcoming from Iowa State University shows that the biobased product industry currently employs about 100,000 people. This is double the number of employees for the industry just two years ago, when BIO counted about 40,000 workers.

Third, a biorefinery industry will create new markets for products. The World Economic Forum estimates that the biorefinery industry will generate upwards of $230 billion in economic growth by 2020. Capturing this market can help rebalance U.S. trade. Building advanced biorefineries in the United States could save as much as $350 billion in oil imports between now and 2022.

Biorefineries producing advanced biofuels will lay the technological foundation for sustainable future economic growth. BIO has developed a set of proposals to maximize the job creation and economic revitalization potential of industrial biotechnology and biorefinery commercialization, including tax incentives for biofuels and renewable chemicals, a strong energy title when the Farm Bill is renewed, and future support for industrial biotech research and development. We urge the President to continue supporting these proposals.

We all need to do something that seems increasingly uncommon in Washington these days: look at the big picture. We are commenting on a 33 minute speech previewing a likely hundreds-of-pages, $447 billion proposal. Based on the President’s speech, some aspects of his plan are likely to relate to clean energy. Many won’t. That’s because this is an economy-wide problem that requires an economy-wide solution.

Let’s not forget, President Obama has already done an enormous amount for both conventional and clean energy. While the President did not explicitly highlight energy or environmental programs, they were present in his proposals to repair and modernize schools, revitalize our transportation network and create a national infrastructure bank. His administration helped bring the American auto industry back from the brink and into profitability by encouraging the manufacture of fuel efficient and even electric vehicles. This year, the energy industry is adding almost 10,000 jobs each month. Domestic oil and natural gas drilling is nearing a 30 year high. We’ve seen a big jump in the deployment of clean energy and investment in emerging clean technologies and a historic number of energy efficiency retrofits. Thanks to these actions, the President has fewer new options to launch new energy programs that would create jobs immediately.

Once we get beyond the short-term jobs issue, however, there are real opportunities for clean energy to help drive long-term economic growth. This is where investment in innovation comes in. Clean energy technology has made giant leaps forward in cost competitiveness and efficiency in the last few years. But it has a lot more to grow before it will create the number of jobs we need to make a dent in unemployment. While we would never claim clean tech as a panacea to all our economic problems, capturing a sizable part of a $2.3 trillion global clean energy market would do a great deal to create jobs and drive growth. As the president highlighted and Third Way detailed in our paper “Creating a Clean Energy Century,” this requires smart federal investments and partnerships with the private sector in innovation through funding of ARPA-E and creation of a clean energy bank; the streamlining of regulations that are hindering clean energy development; and creating business certainty that will help stimulate demand. Not only will this help boost the domestic economy by adding jobs here in the U.S., but it will also help America seize a greater share of global clean energy trade. (Click here for more information)

The success or failure of the jobs plan will also dictate whether Congress delivers on energy policy in the next 14 months. The President went to Capitol Hill and offered a bipartisan plan that will help get Americans back to work. The question now is: can Congress deliver?

That’s because the hope for job creation lies in innovation, and we are not going to innovate by continuing our reliance on outmoded, dirty technologies. Just look at the recent, lamentable and lame plaint from the American Petroleum Institute. They claim – the oil industries claims – that if we only gave them everything they want, they could create 100,000 jobs a year! And generate $7 billion in new federal tax revenues – LESS than their current tax subsidies. If this is the best the oil industry claims it can do, we clearly are not going to drill out way to prosperity and full employment.

But if we are going to speed up our pace of innovation, we will speed up our progress towards sustainability. No one refurbishes an office building and puts in leaky windows or outmoded air conditioners. No one replacing a truck fleet is buying old F250’s. New airplanes are dramatically more efficient than the old ones we should retire. As public utilities begin to clean up their old power plants, even classic coal fans like Dominion Power are concluding that in pure dollars and cents terms coal doesn’t make sense.

The new school buildings the President talked about are going to be green. The new equipment that small business buys with the tax incentives he would offer is going to be low carbon, less wasteful, and more productive. The most exciting promise the President made was that the next generation of products is going to be “Made in America.” If the Administration and Congress and the States collaborate to bring back American manufacturing, the tide of green jobs will become a flood.

Because innovation equals recovery, and efficiency and sustainability are the hallmark of innovation. We simply can’t create enough new jobs unless they are green – because jobs are created by moving forward, not holding on to the past.

Think how much electricity it took to run a computer only a few years ago.

The Administration’s continued dedication to renewable fuel and investments in American infrastructure demonstrates that President Obama recognizes the role that a robust biofuels industry can play in making America's economy the world's strongest once again.

Ethanol, made right here in our backyards, has provided an unparalleled, value-added opportunity for agriculture and America. At ten percent of our fuel supply, ethanol has reduced our dependence on foreign oil, improved our environment and generated more than 400,000 jobs in our local communities.

And, with the right policy moves – moves which would essentially lift the regulatory caps that prevent its natural expansion into what is currently a market captive to oil – the American ethanol industry can create even more good paying jobs in every state across the country.

Policies that open the market to increase the demand for both grain ethanol – which is increasing in efficiency every day – and next generation biofuels, will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and keep money in the U.S. economy, where it will go to work creating American jobs.

For example, investing in an infrastructure program that would break the hold that global oil companies have on our motor fuels market will give consumers a choice and savings at the pump. This means encouraging the installation of Flex Fuel pumps, and encouraging the production and sale of Flex Fuel vehicles.

We must also renew the call – first made in the bipartisan 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act – to produce 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022. We are well on our way, and with the right policies in place, we can easily realize that goal.

By opening up the market to more first generation ethanol and next generation ethanol – which would ultimately expand the ethanol industry beyond the Midwest to all 50 states – we can generate new high-paying jobs, increased market opportunities for farmers, additional household income and tax revenues.

Getting our economy back on track will undoubtedly take time, but America has the talent, ability and ingenuity to answer the monetary, energy and environmental challenges we face. America’s ethanol producers are ready to help lead the way.

The natural gas industry has long been a leader in economic development and job creation and has an important role to play in helping the American economy get back on its feet.

Companies that make up the natural gas industry are responsible for creating 622,000 jobs directly through the production, transportation and distribution of natural gas. An additional 723,000 jobs are created in industries providing goods and services to the natural gas sector. This number is poised to grow even more as additional shale gas is developed.

In 2011 alone, an estimated 120,000 jobs were created in the Marcellus shale gas field, which encompasses parts of Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio – a stunning number considering the economy’s anemic job creation and growth performance this year.

In coming years, as new supply areas grow and additional power generators convert to clean, affordable and domestically abundant natural gas, additional midstream infrastructure such as gathering lines, transmission lines, processing plants and storage facilities will be built, creating even more well-paying American jobs. This would help build on the $7 billion in capital raised each year by our investor-owned companies to expand, modernize and enhance the safety of the industry’s 2.4-million-mile underground pipeline network.

American consumers also are benefiting from the shale gas revolution, which has greatly enhanced our nation’s economic security and has kept natural gas and electricity (increasingly generated by natural gas) affordable. Lower utility bills mean more disposable income, which can help jump start the struggling economy.

We echo President Obama’s call for renewed investment in both our domestic energy industry and our national transportation network. We also urge the president and Congress to reduce regulatory barriers impeding the expansion and improvement of the natural gas pipeline delivery system. We encourage the expansion of access to both onshore and offshore resources, including those on federal lands, and encourage the continued responsible development of our domestically abundant shale gas resources. We also urge the president and Congress to streamline the costly environmental permitting process and eliminate regulatory redundancies that impede industry investment and frustrate job creation. Finally, we ask the president and Congress to reject proposals to single out the natural gas industry for harmful tax increases.

President Obama’s address to Congress last week called for, among other things, more jobs and more money in consumers’ pockets – feats that are already being accomplished through improving and expanding renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

Improvements in energy efficiency are a strong economic driver, employing upwards of 340,000 people through 2010. Savings through energy efficiency is expected to be around $68 billion over the next several decades, money that consumers can put into other parts of the economy.

Investing in energy efficiency is an easy way to spur job growth that also comes with a host of environmental benefits. First of all, saving energy saves land: the power plant or gas well that you don’t need to build protects valuable and disappearing wild spaces, and by reducing the need for more fossil fuel burning plants, we can reduce the amount of toxic sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide going into the air. Jobs will be created through upgrades and remodels in order to bring schools, homes and businesses into the 21^st century, while reducing electricity bills.

Also key in improving our economy and environment is an increase in responsible renewable energy development. The solar industry already employs almost 100,000 Americans across the 50 states and is creating value in the economy. Dollars invested in solar stays here – according to GTM Research, nearly 73 cents out of every dollar spent on a PV installation in the U.S. in 2010 stayed in the U.S., totaling $3.6 billion in domestic value creation. With the cost of solar panels dropping – the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers announced in June that solar panels could become the most cost-effective electricity source within a decade – renewable energy is becoming a better and better option and American companies are taking notice. In the last 18 months, solar companies have either added or expanded almost 60 factories in states such as Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee – regions that have been hit hard by the recession and have been in need of some good news on the jobs front.

The wind energy industry is also a booming source of energy and employment in our country. According to the American Wind Energy Association, more than 75,000 people are employed at 400 manufacturing facilities all across the U.S. making components for wind turbines. Furthermore, the U.S. wind industry has added over one third of all new generating capacity over the past four years, more than nuclear and coal combined, and is on track to be 20% of our generation by 2030, creating an estimated 500,000 jobs. And 60% of the value generated by wind stays in America.

More investments and tax credits into these industries will only help it become a major part of an American clean energy economy.

In his speech, President Obama vowed to not “let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades” by cutting necessary regulations. Not only does keeping these safeguards intact help protect American citizens, it also puts people back to work - Through 2015, these important environmental safeguards will create 1.45 million new jobs. And, by engaging stakeholders and the public early, these safeguards have actually improved renewable energy projects proposed for our public lands.

Clean energy and energy efficiency are job drivers in this country, and help put more money back in the pockets of consumers – money that can be put to other parts of our economy. In moving forward and getting America back to work, the Administration should make sure that energy efficiency and renewable energy are parts of the jobs plan.

We’ve said this before, but sadly following the President’s speech last week, it bears repeating. The smartest domestic energy policy that President Obama could put forward now – one that would solve our immediate energy needs, the immediate concerns of consumers who are tired of paying high prices at the pump, and the needs of the hundreds of thousands of unemployed who could be put to work in our domestic energy industry – is one that puts increased domestic energy production today at the center of the policy. Unfortunately, President Obama seems to be missing the forest for the trees with energy policy. North America is unbelievably rich with energy. Between oil in the Gulf of Mexico, natural gas in the Mid-Atlantic States and the potential for safe, reliable crude oil through the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project, we could supply our own domestic energy for generations to come. And yet, instead of pursuing these homegrown solutions, the US instead earns recognition as the only country in the world that actually restricts access to known oil and gas reserves.


We really have to start focusing on fulfilling today’s needs in a smart way while also investigating longer-term alternative energy options. Today, we have the technology to access our energy reserves safely and effectively, and we can do this while exploring options for a more diverse energy future. But we cannot put today’s energy and economic needs on the backburner while we wait decades to build a more diverse future.