Economic Message of the Week: Businesses Support Clean Energy Job Bill

A group of 150 trade associations and manufacturers is backing a piece of legislation it says will increase the number of green manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
 
The Apollo Alliance, a group of labor, business, and environmental groups, announced it supports a bill sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Oh.) that would establish a two-year $30 billion loan fund for businesses to help establish clean energy and efficiency systems.
 
"We consider the stimulus bill a down payment on the transition to a clean energy economy," said Sam Haswell, a spokesman for the Alliance. "It was an important first step, but the stimulus alone won't get us fully to a clean energy economy where we will become competitive on a global basis."
 
The group also supports the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed by the House in June, and is pushing for the Senate to include green job incentives when it devises its own version of the energy bill later this year.