The U.S. must commit to developing a domestic manufacturing sector capable of meeting heightened demand for the parts, systems and components of the growing clean energy economy – a strategy that is key to ensuring that federal clean energy investments create quality, high-paying jobs domestically, according to a report released by the Apollo Alliance and Good Jobs First.
‘Winning the Race: How America Can Lead the Global Clean Energy Economy’ concludes that domestic manufacturing would avoid indirectly subsidizing the growth of those activities in low-wage countries such as China that are emerging as key competitors in the race to lead the global clean energy economy.
‘The U.S. needs a comprehensive strategy, including safeguards to ensure that increased demand for renewable energy systems doesn't simply create manufacturing jobs in low-wage havens,’ says Good Jobs First Executive Director Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First.Â
The report recommends a comprehensive strategy to create jobs in the clean energy economy through the entire supply chain. The first step is to ensure an expanded and consistent market for clean energy by passing comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, and then to expand domestic clean energy manufacturing by doing the following:
– increasing the Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit by $5 billion, as the president proposed in his fiscal year 2011 budget, but adding ‘clawback’ provisions that would enable the federal government to recoup the tax credits if 48C jobs end up being sent offshore;
– enacting the ‘Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technologies Act,’ which would support small and midsized manufacturers by providing capital for investments in energy efficiency and for retooling and expanding into the clean energy supply chain; and
– investing in the creation of a well-trained workforce that meets the needs of U.S. clean energy manufacturers and would make onshore investment more attractive.
SOURCE: The Apollo Alliance
