$2 Million Goes to Growing Bay State Clean Energy Jobs Sector

WASHINGTON (January 13, 2010) – Today the Obama administration will announce $150 million in funding for clean energy jobs from the Recovery Act, including more than $2 million going to a local Massachusetts organization that helps at-risk youth find ways out of poverty and violence and into stable employment options. The organization, Roca, Inc., is one of many “Pathways Out of Poverty” grants provided by the Recovery Act, and shows the continued expansion of clean energy jobs to all sectors of the economy.

“Young and old, blue collar and white collar, clean energy jobs are the future for Massachusetts and the entire American economy, if we continue to push for more clean energy,” said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “Clean energy jobs can help at-risk youth and our at-risk economy at the same time. It’s a win-win-win for our security, our economy, and our environment.”

The Waxman-Markey clean energy legislation that passed the House in June would continue this push for more clean energy jobs by creating a robust marketplace for new energy technologies that would create millions of new jobs. In addition, the Waxman-Markey bill invests nearly $1 billion into the Green Jobs Act, originally established in the 2007 energy bill, which supports worker training for the new clean energy jobs that Waxman-Markey will create. The bill also provides transition assistance to workers who move from traditional energy industries to advanced clean energy jobs.

“America needs clean energy jobs here, and we need them now,” continued Rep. Markey. “Millions of clean energy jobs will be created over the next decade. The question is, will they be created here in Massachusetts and in America, or will they be created in China and around the world?”

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