Brown Hosts Clean Energy Meeting with "We Can Lead" Business Coalition

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) hosted a meeting today with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) on clean energy jobs with business leaders in the "We Can Lead" coalition. They discussed how the U.S. economy can be transformed through clean energy legislation that creates new jobs and spurs economic development.

"In order to promote a stronger economy, we need to do more than just recover -- we need to look forward to the jobs of the 21st century," Brown said. "Clean energy legislation is not just about the environment, it's about creating jobs and revitalizing our nation's manufacturing basis. For a clean energy bill to be successful, it must also be a jobs bill that partners with the business community."

"We Can Lead" is a business coalition of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers, and energy providers that support comprehensive clean energy legislation that will promote job growth and economic development. More than 150 business leaders from more than 30 states are in Washington to lobby on behalf of comprehensive energy legislation. The lobby day was organized by the Clean Economy Network, Ceres, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), and Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Three Ohio business leaders attended today's meeting including Tom Mack, President & CEO of AHL Tech in Milford; Ross Youngs, CEO of Algaeventure Systems in Marysville; and Steve Melink, Founder & President of the Melink Corporation in Milford.

Brown is a leading advocate in Congress for the creation of a clean energy jobs. Since 2007, Brown has held more than 140 roundtables across the state of Ohio, meeting with workers and business leaders about how to position Ohio as a leader in the clean energy economy. At an unprecedented forum in Toledo last spring, Brown convened business, labor, and environmental leaders to discuss how climate change initiatives could create new jobs and economic opportunities in clean energy across Ohio. Over the past year, Brown held three groundbreaking clean energy summits in Ohio, connecting business leaders, manufacturers, and farmers with federal energy officials.

Recently described as "Congress's leading proponent of American manufacturing," Brown has been working with his colleagues to ensure climate change legislation invests in the competitiveness of American manufacturing and provides support to the regions, industries, and consumers that would be most affected by the legislation. In August, Brown led a group of ten U.S. senators in sending a letter to President Barack Obama on the need to maintain a level playing field for American manufacturing in any climate change legislation. The senators expressed their support for a border adjustment mechanism and other initiatives that would ensure the future competiveness of U.S. manufacturing. Brown's Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act of 2009, which was included in the House-passed change legislation, would help transform former auto suppliers and other small and mid-sized manufacturers to begin to produce clean energy technologies. The Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, and environmental groups, estimates that the IMPACT Act would generate more than $100 billion in revenue for clean energy businesses and create 680,000 direct manufacturing jobs and nearly 2 million indirect jobs over five years.

Source