Biden: Green Jobs Will Aid Middle Class

Joe Biden is kicking off his Middle Class Task Force work in Philadelphia today, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Vice President Joe Biden will be in Philadelphia today to hold his first official Middle Class Task Force meeting.

The focus of the meeting this afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania's William B. Irvine Auditorium is creation of green jobs as the pathway to a strong middle class and the economic recovery.

In advance of the talk, Biden penned an op-ed for the Inquirer, highlighting some of what are likely to be his key talking points:

Right here in Philadelphia, for example, there are 400,000 rowhouses that could be weatherized and made more energy-efficient. Just doing that would lower household energy consumption by 20 to 40 percent, saving families hundreds of dollars a year.

Fortunately, as we will stress in our meeting here today, Mayor Nutter, Gov. Rendell, and other state and city officials across the nation are ready to help us build a greener economy. Philadelphia, for example, is working with its unions, universities, and community colleges to impart green skills to workers from all walks of life. The city is also proposing a new public authority to support large-scale green investment, especially in weatherization, building retrofits, and infrastructure.

Comments

[BrianJDonovan]

Louisiana will create jobs by growing ethanol demand, specifically hydrous ethanol demand, beyond the 10% blend market.
Governor Bobby Jindal has signed into law the Advanced Biofuel Industry Development Initiative, Act 382, the most comprehensive and far-reaching state legislation in the nation enacted to develop a statewide advanced biofuel industry. The legislature found that the proper development of an advanced biofuel industry in Louisiana requires implementation of the comprehensive “field-to-pump” strategy:
(1) Feedstock other than corn;
(2) Decentralized network of small advanced biofuel manufacturing facilities;
(3) Variable blending pumps, in lieu of splash blending, will offer the consumer E10, E20, E30 and E85; and
(4) Hydrous ethanol.
"Field-to-Pump" is a unique strategy created by Renergie, Inc. (“Renergie”) to locally produce and market advanced biofuel (“non-corn fuel ethanol”) via a network of small advanced biofuel manufacturing facilities. The purpose of “field-to-pump” is to maximize rural development and job creation while minimizing feedstock supply risk and the burden on local water supplies.

[LizM]

Okay, so here's the deal...the American middle class is extremely fortunate to have Joe Biden at the helm of their task force, no question about it!

But, let's just hope that the Vice President and resident expert on Iraq in the new administration continues to have his fingerprints all over the new strategy to withdraw US forces without leaving a failed and fragmented state behind...y­ou know, so that the rest of us out in the world can feel equally fortunate!

[SparkyDash]

President Obama knows he has a multi-talented VP who has more energy and brights than most. I am certain Obama is utilizing all of Biden's extensive experience and skills...e­specially his knowledge of Iraq ;-)

[plantguy]

Green energy also will cause people to lose their jobs.

[skymuffin]

Well, it won't matter if you can't drink the water, breathe the air, eat the food, or use any products because they're all laden with noxious chemicals. You won't be able to get health care to fight the horrible diseases you'll get from being toxic.

What's your point? If the technology changes, won't you change with it?

[PrincipiaChamp]

the same jobs that are quickly going away anyways. Green energy is the future, whether everyone is on board or not. The simple truth is that a major growth in job opportunities is and will continue to be in green technology/energy. This is where our country and the world is heading.

Obama-Biden understand where our future jobs are, and thank goodness they are not beholding to industries that have, in all honesty, used up their time and resources.

Green energy should not be seen as a negative, futuristic, scary term...as it is not.

[Smithenergy]

Renewable energy isn’t just good for our environment — it’s good for our economy, too. In this difficult economy, renewable energy has been much more stable than many other industries. In fact, renewable energy continues to create jobs. Just take a look at renewable energy’s explosive growth over the past three years:

Go to http://www.buildbabybuild.net/blog/renewable-energy-jobs-growing-rapidly/ to see the chart.