Chairman Miller Praises House Passage of Legislation to Prepare Workers for ‘Green Collar’ Jobs to Fight Global Warming

Saturday, August 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation today to help train American workers for jobs in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries – industries that are key to U.S. and world efforts to combat global warming.

“By helping green industries to grow by providing them with a strong supply of well-trained, highly-skilled workers, this bill would remove one of the barriers that slows our progress in confronting the serious dangers posed by global warming,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, which approved the legislation on June 27. “This initiative would create good-paying jobs in industries that are likely to continue to grow for years, thus giving a real boost to the American economy.”

The Green Jobs Act of 2007 (H.R. 2847), introduced by Reps. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and John Tierney (D-MA), authorizes up to $125 million in funding to establish national and state job training programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, to help address job shortages that are impairing growth in green industries, such as energy efficient buildings and construction, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, and biofuels development. 

The Green Jobs Act would also help identify and track the new jobs and skills needed to grow the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. Among other things, this effort would link research and development in the green industry to job standards and training curricula.

The new job training programs would create jobs that put workers on a path to financial self-sufficiency. Funding for these programs could be used to pay for the occupational training itself, as well for support services for workers while they are in the training, like child care.  Priority for these training programs would be given to veterans, displaced workers, and at-risk young people.

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Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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