May Apollo Energy Alliance Updates

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May Apollo Energy Alliance Updates
The substantial investments that the Obama administration and Congress are making in the clean energy sector also are the start of a wave of new green-collar employment. Reports from California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota and other states show that as federal funds flow out of Washington for energy efficiency improvements, weatherization, plant retooling and other programs, green-collar employment is on the rise.
Serious Materials, the California company that manufacturers energy efficient windows, is a case in point. Since the start of the year, Serious has hired more than 200 new employees to reopen two plants, and it has plans to develop several more plants.
The company's business plan reflects a surge of clean energy sector funding from Washington. More than $110 billion in clean energy investment was contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was enacted in February. The $410 billion appropriations bill, approved in March, provided $82 billion more for clean energy development, as well as $3.9 billion for job training and placement. The $3.4 trillion federal budget plan approved last month includes billions for clean energy investment and green-collar job development and training.
Now that the federal government has embraced America's transition to a clean energy economy, the Apollo Alliance is redoubling its efforts to ensure that the new economy creates widely shared opportunities. Our goal is to develop high quality green-collar jobs that pay well, provide benefits, and can turn into rewarding careers in the clean energy sector.
Apollo GreenMAP
Our work is principally focused on rebuilding the capacity of America's manufacturers to build the parts, components, systems and equipment that will fuel the clean energy economy. The Apollo Green Manufacturing Action Plan (GreenMAP), launched on April 15, is a comprehensive roadmap for rebuilding the U.S. manufacturing sector to meet the clean energy needs of the future. A broad base of national leaders, organizations, and companies support the call for substantial federal investment in domestic manufacturing of clean energy products.
Our staff members are working with partner organizations in Washington and across the country to make Apollo's voice heard in the clean energy debate. A week after the GreenMAP's introduction, Apollo Co-Director Kate Gordon testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is considering a new national energy policy act, on the importance of federal funding for America's clean energy infrastructure.
On Earth Day, Kate (far left in pix at top) was among 35 national leaders invited by Hilda Solis, the Labor Secretary, and Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, to take part in a panel discussion on Women and Green Jobs. The discussion was an opportunity for leading women from labor, business, academia, government and the non-profit sector to share how they are shaping our green economic strategy and working with the Obama administration to ensure that women have access to the green economy.
The national campaign to retool American manufacturing and ensure millions of green-collar jobs also included our first 30-second television ad, which aired in Ohio. A great big shout out to Paul Blank and Eva Barboni, our Washington strategists, for producing the piece, which was recut for national broadcast on CNN and other stations in ads sponsored by Moveon.org and the Blue-Green Alliance.
We'll keep you informed about progress. The Apollo Green Manufacturing Action Plan and its focus on rebuilding manufacturing and developing green-collar jobs is clearly gaining traction.
In other developments: Please welcome Sam Haswell, Dana Sevakis, Shanelle Smith and Joe Thomas as our newest members of the Apollo staff.
We also posted new Signature Stories. Flambeau River Paper has developed a biomass energy plant to save money and reopen a mill that employs 315 people. Babylon, New York has come up with an innovative way to secure upfront capital for a large-scale energy efficiency and weatherization retrofit program for residential buildings. New wind development projects are underway in Iowa and Illinois. A window glass manufacturer in Ohio is finding new markets in solar development. And our feature article this week looks at G.M.'s capacity to manufacture the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid.
Take care and talk to you again next week.
Yours,

Keith Schneider
Communications Director
Apollo Alliance
keith@apolloalliance.org
Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party
www.ohiogreens.org