Groundswell for Green

In February, 16 Latino business leaders traveled to Capitol Hill to tell lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle that they want the Senate to pass clean energy and climate legislation.

Why were executives asking for a law that will regulate carbon pollution? Because they know it will be good for our economy. They believe it will unleash desperately need private investment and generate jobs.

Many of the executives have seen firsthand how clean energy investment drives growth. One heads a South Carolina company that manufactures solar panels and wind turbines. The company created more than 800 jobs this year and expects to double that next year. Another executive owns a green tech company in Missouri that has engaged city government in order to help spread clean energy jobs across the community.

These Latino business leaders are not alone in believing that clean energy and climate legislation will lead to more economic growth.

Last month, more than 80 leading businesses, labor unions, faith, national security and environmental organizations launched a national print ad campaign calling for swift action by Congress to pass clean energy and climate legislation.

The breadth of groups behind the ads is significant—representing regions across the country and a range of political views. This ad campaign reminds us that Americans from all walks of life—from the board room to the factory floor, from churches to the frontlines—believe that clean energy and climate legislation mean more economic opportunity, greater security, and less pollution.

While there is broad support across the nation for clean energy and climate legislation, the enthusiasm among members of the business community is especially encouraging. Corporations as diverse as Con Edison, Michelin, PSG&E, Toyota, and Campbell’s Soup have signed on to the ad campaign—companies that have interests across the nation and around the world. But that shouldn’t be surprising.

When I went to the White House to talk with President Obama about clean energy and climate change legislation in December, I wasn’t only in the company of environmental leaders. Executives from Duke Energy, DuPont, Exelon, and Honeywell came, too. And they weren’t there to block the bill; they were there to ask President Obama to put his weight behind it.

These giants from utility, energy, consumer and manufacturing sectors agree that as soon as America puts a cap on carbon pollution, it will release a wave of private investment and technological innovation in low-carbon technologies such as efficient building materials, renewable power sources, and hybrid cars.

These innovations in turn will lead to more jobs. Economists at the University of California concluded that the clean energy and climate bill that passed the House of Representatives in 2009 would generate nearly 2 million new jobs.

Some lawmakers have the defeatist attitude that China will capture the clean energy market because of its low wages. In fact, a recent study by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (for which Barclay’s vetted the data) found that 75 percent of all solar energy jobs are in installation and maintenance and the trend is similar for other clean energy sources. We simply can’t outsource the job of building a wind farm or making an office more energy efficient.

In the interest of retaining economic opportunity here in the United States, more than 2,400 companies have joined the American Businesses for Clean Energy group to show their support for limiting greenhouse gases. This diverse group reveals the range of businesses, from industry leaders to mom-and-pop shops, that want climate action.

All of these companies recognize that the clean energy market is global and that their competitors are already securing a place in it. We need to take swift action here in the United States in order to jumpstart energy innovation here at home. If we don’t, we will lose the clean tech race to China and India, and we may fall behind other contenders such as Germany and Spain.

The best way to secure a place in the global clean energy market is through smart policies. We need government incentives to get technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace. And we need American workers to get the job done.

That is why Natural Resources Defense Council has joined with these companies, labor unions, and other groups to call on our elected officials to lead the way to a cleaner, safer and healthier future. I urge you to add your voice to the growing chorus.