Coalition sees jobs in clean energy

 Nov 13 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Rory Sweeney The Times  Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

> By creating a comprehensive package of legislation, manufacturing
> support, purchasing incentives and worker training, the U.S. can
> create a self-sustaining industry around alternative-energy
> development that creates nearly 2 million middle-class jobs, according
> to a coalition of worker unions and environmental organizations.
>
> A Blue-Green Alliance representative, two local union leaders and
> a state legislator spoke on Thursday about the alliance's new report
> that links a revitalization of American manufacturing with an increase
> in alternative energy.
>
> "We focus a lot on the products, but we don't necessarily focus
> on the manufacturing," said Jason Brady, who works for the Sierra Club
> and the alliance to increase its presence in Pennsylvania.
>
> To do so, the alliance is calling for comprehensive climate-
> change and clean-energy legislation that would mandate 25 percent of
> energy come from renewable sources by 2025. Such a goal would create
> 850,000 jobs overall and 42,000 in Pennsylvania, according to the
> alliance's report.
>
> He said the locating of wind giant Gamesa's North American
> headquarters in the Philadelphia region is a good example because it
> made the decision after it "saw that Pennsylvania as a state was
> making a commitment" to clean energy.
>
> American consumers "have the wherewithal to make the
> improvements" for energy conservation, as opposed to residents in less
> prosperous countries where many of the products are produced, said
> state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre.
>
> "If we're going to buy it, it should be made here," he said.
> "It's
> time that American companies have to decide whether they're Americans
> or not. Their main holdings should be in the country, where the
> majority of the jobs should stay." He suggested that 75 percent of
> their operations should stay on American soil.
>
> Joe Padavan, the president of the local steelworkers union,
> reiterated that, arguing that the country needs to initiate trade
> regulations that factor in a product's environmental impact during its
> production so that American manufacturing isn't punished for its
> higher standards.
>
> "The trade has to be fair, and it's not fair," he said. "We're
> looking for jobs that are going to be here for the long term."
>
> His union believes solar energy and geothermal are "going to be
> big"
> regionally. "What we can do is make sure our men are trained ... We
> can be ahead of the game, so when it comes, we have the men to put on
> the job," he said.
>
> Mike Mazza, the vice president and business manager for the local
> union of operating engineers, said companies are already indicating
> their willingness to use local workers.
>