Inslee, Israel: Want jobs? We can get them from clean energy

As we await introduction in the Senate of comprehensive energy and climate legislation consistent with the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed by the House ten months ago, it is time to focus on other critical steps that Congress can take to harness American innovation to create millions of jobs as part of our new clean energy economy.

The House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) has been at the forefront of generating legislation in Congress to create jobs and growth in the most promising and successful sector of our economy: clean energy. By enacting policies to incentivize and invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency we can revitalize domestic industries like manufacturing and construction, and increase the production of home-grown American energy technologies to power our nation to a more secure and sustainable future.

To start, we should focus on America’s most easily obtainable energy resource and job creator - energy efficiency. By increasing energy efficiency in the United States we can cut costs, reduce pollution, and create jobs. The bipartisan Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, which will be on the House floor this week, could create more than 160,000 American jobs increasing residential energy efficiency. This legislation should be passed, and Congress should look to other opportunities- like property-assessed clean energy financing and combined heat and power technologies, among other policies- to further increase residential, commercial, and industrial energy efficiency.

A recent McKinsey & Company report on energy efficiency found that the United States could save $1.2 trillion through 2020 by investing in improvements like sealing leaky building ducts and replacing inefficient household appliances with new, energy-saving models. Retrofitting the nation's aging building stock would drastically reduce the carbon impact. The total potential market for major green renovations in the commercial building sector alone is approximately $500 billion.

Also, by extending incentives and investments for clean energy technologies we will give our entrepreneurs and manufacturers badly-needed tools to advance American leadership in these industries. Congress should extend and expand tax credits for the production and deployment of renewable energy technologies like wind, solar, marine, electric vehicles, biofuels, and others. Also, Congress should reinstate $2 billion to the Department of Energy Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program (funding that was used for the “Cash for Clunkers” Program last summer) to provide additional, badly needed capital that will foster these domestic industries and allow America to compete in the global race for clean tech.

SEEC understands that the most powerful incentive to catalyze private investments in America’s clean energy economy- and the most critical piece of any comprehensive energy legislation- is a cost or restraint on carbon pollution. Restraining carbon, by means of a limit or cost element, is vital to creating millions of American clean energy jobs and real energy independence, and is essential to preventing the catastrophic consequences of unabated climate change.

However, as we await the Senate’s consideration of comprehensive energy legislation, the members of SEEC will continue to push Congress to focus on policies that will allow American innovators the chance to compete in and dominate the growing clean energy industries.

The United States has always been at the forefront of global technological advancement and manufacturing capacity, and cannot now sit on the sidelines while other nations make enormous strides in these promising new frontiers presented by clean energy. We are encouraged by the commitment that the President, Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Reid have shown in advancing American leadership in the industries that will dominate the global economy of the twenty-first century. We look forward to working with our colleagues to create careers and a more prosperous American economy through clean energy.

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Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Steve Israel (D-NY) are the co-chairs of the House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC)- a focused, action-based caucus of 54 members that was founded at the start of the 111th Congress to advance clean energy innovation and job creation, environmental protection, and policies to combat climate change.

This op-ed was published in 'The Hill' and can be viewed here.