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E4 Energy Jobs

Supporting Job Growth in the Emerging Energy Sector

The development of energy saving and renewable energy technologies offers an enormous opportunity to lower energy costs, address environmental challenges, create jobs and boost small businesses. That is why I introduced two energy bills in my E4 Initiative - dubbed E4 because of its focus on Economy, Employment, Education, and Energy - to create green jobs and enhance economic development.

Creating Jobs That Help Businesses and Homeowners Go Green

As part of my E4 Initiative, I offered an amendment to the 2009 economic recovery package that helps create jobs by supporting energy efficiency projects. The amendment, based on my Community Revitalization Energy Conservation (CREC) Act, expands the types of projects eligible for bonds that ease the costs of going green for homeowners and businesses. I was successful in including a modified version of my amendment in the final package which passed Congress and was signed by President Obama. This measure received broad support from leaders in business, environmental policy, and local government.

Projects that reduce the upfront costs of energy efficiency and conservation upgrades in privately owned buildings are among the new projects eligible for the bonds. These projects include heat-fuel saving measures like insulation, electricity-saving measure like lighting and appliances, water-saving measures like low-flow shower heads and toilets, renewable energy generating devices like photovoltaic solar installations, storm water management like rain barrels, or other measures that also result in reduced energy use. Milwaukee’s proposed Me2 program, which supports green-collar jobs installing energy efficiency upgrades, is among the programs that could benefit from my legislation.

I was pleased that the economic recovery package also included a 300 percent increase in funding for the Qualified Energy Conservation Bond program. The increase, which tracks a similar increase in my legislation, boosted the funding available in tax credit bonds for energy conservation and efficiency projects from $800 million to $3.2 billion. Increasing the support for this program will mean more jobs to implement more energy efficiency improvements in homes and commercial buildings.

Helping Businesses Bring New Energy Technologies to the Market

I introduced the Energy and Technology Advancement (ETA) Act in my E4 Initiative to help businesses move new technologies from the research and development phase to the marketplace. By encouraging partnerships between government and businesses, this bill can move up the ETA – estimated time of arrival – for bringing new technologies to the market.

The ETA Act focuses on encouraging the Department of Agriculture (USDA), which includes the Forest Service, to serve as a “business incubator” helping businesses get new technologies off the ground. It provides a bridge to move technology from the research and development phase to commercialization, which will make new energy technologies a reality.

Specifically, my bill encourages the USDA to:

• Allow rental of federal equipment and property for the development of new and improved products and processes;
  


• Authorize USDA employees and private-sector employees to work together in federal or private experimental or production facilities;
  


• Provide business support services to start-up and small businesses; and
  


• Partner with tribes, states, counties, universities, and other educational and governmental units to support business incubators for businesses.

The ETA Act also puts the business incubator concept into practice by requiring the USDA to pursue a biorefinery pilot plant that will allow businesses to partner with the federal government to test promising technologies, thus increasing the chances of commercializing biofuels. The cost of the legislation is fully offset.