Reducing energy waste  is a cornerstone of the BlueGreen Alliance's Jobs21! plan — our effort to create and keep jobs in the industries of the 21st century, including energy efficiency, manufacturing, transporation, renewable energy, broadband Internet, smart grid, recycling, and producing greener and safer chemicals and products.  

It’s often said making the homes we live in is one of the “low hanging fruit” to building a more sustainable America. To try to move the needle on home energy efficiency, the BlueGreen Alliance Apollo Alliance Project — along with CalCef and the UC Berkeley Labor Center — released a report outlining new strategies for uniting private and public investment to unlock savings (and jobs) making homes more energy efficient. The report, entitled Pulling the Trigger: Increasing Home Energy Savings, recommends a set of initiatives the public and private sectors can take to help homeowners take advantage of home update opportunities that will make their domiciles more energy efficient, saving them money.

These “triggers” can be taken advantage of by increasing perspective buyers’  awareness of the energy costs and efficiency of their perspective home; customizing existing energy efficiency incentive programs to better serve homeowners; enforcing stricter standards and permitting requirements; having utilities include warnings on the long-term costs of high-tier rates and offering consumers that remain in upper energy rate tier rates energy efficiency upgrades to reduce their consumption; and developing modification to mortgage financing that incentivize and incorporate energy efficiency efforts.

The report focuses on California, but provides a roadmap that can be used throughout the country  to increase energy efficiency, reducing costs for homeowners and creating jobs for workers.

The following is a statement from BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster on the merger of the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance.

Earlier today, the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance announced that the two organizations will merge to build a stronger, more effective movement for creating clean energy jobs while also addressing the climate crisis and breaking our dependence on foreign oil.

The combined organization will continue to be known as the BlueGreen Alliance and co-Chaired by USW International President Leo W. Gerard and Sierra Club Chair Carl Pope.  I will continue as Executive Director.

The announcement was made at a special press conference call where we were joined by Apollo Alliance Chairman Phil Angelides and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, who used the occasion to announce the introduction of the Strengthening Manufacturing and Rebuilding Transit (SMART) Act, which would invest in American-made transportation infrastructure.

In 2006, the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club formed the BlueGreen Alliance in an effort to dispel the idea that environmental protection and job creation were opposing values. From the start, we have maintained that the world economy can no longer operate on a false choice between good jobs and a clean environment. The climate crisis underscored this new reality; the choice is now both or neither.

Yet, nearly three years into a profound economic crisis, we are still facing an unemployment problem of historic proportions. And after working hard together to pass a comprehensive climate change bill last year, we are seeing daily the effects of inaction on climate change with escalating environmental and economic impacts across the country and around the world.

At the same time, the U.S. is falling behind in the race for a clean energy economy while China and Europe make unprecedented investments in the transition to renewable energy. The U.S. cannot afford to sit on the sidelines as the rest of the world takes advantage of the most significant job creating opportunity in a generation.

That is why I believe that the decision to combine the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance is one of many important steps that all of us need to take to forge a stronger movement to demand the transition to a clean energy economy. With 24 million Americans currently unemployed or underemployed and Congress paralyzed from taking action on climate change, our country’s economic and environmental challenges are inextricably linked and demand a common solution.

Launched in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, the BlueGreen Alliance today includes the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, United Auto Workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Our partner organizations unite more than 14 million members.

Earlier this year, the BlueGreen Alliance launched Jobs21! — a nine-state, grassroots campaign calling for a national jobs plan to create seven million jobs putting America to work building the clean energy industries of the 21^st century here in the United States. And the Apollo Alliance recently launched the Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP) project, which offers a national jobs plan within the transportation sector. It calls for federal investment that will create 3.7 million direct and indirect jobs — including 600,000 in manufacturing — over six years and will save Americans up to $5,000 per family each year in commuting costs. Together these initiatives form the basis of a movement to combine the solutions to unemployment and climate change.

But building a movement that can lead to a new direction in Washington, D.C. will not come easily, nor can it rely on sticking to old orthodoxies. We simply must be willing to build new partnerships and take risks on new organizational structures. The BGA-Apollo merger is done in that spirit.

Together, we will make the 21^st century American clean economy a reality.

Joining Forces…

Today marks the beginning of a very exciting new endeavor. With 24 million Americans still out of work or unable to find full-time work, the BlueGreen Alliance and Apollo Alliance announced a merger to strengthen and unify the movement to build a 21^st century clean energy economy to fuel U.S. job creation. The newly unified organization will call on Washington to focus anew on creating good jobs, securing America’s energy future and preserving the environment for future generations. We now represent the strongest, most unified voice for a clean energy, good jobs, made in America economy.

Beginning July 1, the two organizations will combine to become the BlueGreen Alliance which will be home to the Apollo Alliance project. Together, the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance project will engage with labor, environmental, business and community leaders across the country to advance a bold vision of how we can transform our energy future and, at the same time, create good jobs and rebuild our economy.

The announcement was made on a press conference call with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers, Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance and Apollo Alliance board member, Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Apollo Alliance, Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club, Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance and Apollo Alliance board member, and David Foster, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance.

They were joined on the call by Senator Brown (D-OH) who announced new legislation — the Strengthening Manufacturing and Rebuilding Transit (SMART) Act — that would invest in American-made transportation infrastructure. The legislation is aimed at enhancing domestic transportation supply chains while maximizing job creation in manufacturing. Supporting the SMART Act was the first step the newly unified organization took together to create good, green jobs in the 21^st Century economy.

“Nearly three years after the bottom fell out of our economy, we are still facing a jobs crisis of historic proportions,” said Leo W. Gerard. “We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines while the U.S. misses the boat on the industries of the 21^st century — the biggest job-creating opportunity in a generation. That is why the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance are joining together today — to build a stronger movement to create good jobs that protect the environment for the next generation.”

“Today, with this collaboration and our support for Senator Brown’s SMART Act, we are sending a powerful message that our highest priority must be to build an economy of good jobs and broadly shared prosperity in place of the financial speculation and recklessness that brought our economy to its knees,” said Phil Angelides. “Together, we are committed to building a new green economy for America's future that will meet the convergent threats of climate change, dependence on foreign oil, and unacceptable joblessness.”

“We are thrilled that two great organizations will become one effort to build a stronger, renewed movement to create the good jobs of the 21^st century economy — the jobs that will help us to move to a clean, renewable energy economy, reduce pollution and break our country’s dependence on foreign oil,” said Carl Pope. “Protecting the planet and building a stronger, more prosperous economy for everyone are inextricably linked, and today, this movement becomes that much stronger.”

Our work ahead…

The invigorated organization will keep a keen focus on job creation. Earlier this year, the BlueGreen Alliance launched Jobs21! — a nine-state grassroots campaign calling for a national jobs plan to put America back to work building the industries of the 21^st century here in the United States. The initiative calls for investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation infrastructure and fuel-efficient vehicles, a smarter electrical grid, broadband Internet, recycling and green chemistry — industries that will create new jobs and markets in manufacturing, construction, education and many other sectors.

This initiative will be strengthened through coordination with the Apollo Alliance’s strong network of state and local affiliates — now dubbed BlueGreen Apollo Alliances — and by Apollo’s recently-launched Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP) project that calls for federal investment in clean transportation that will create 3.7 million direct and indirect jobs over six years and will save Americans up to $5,000 per family each year in commuting costs.

Add your voice to the movement…

Please take a moment to add your voice to growing number of people who are calling for a national jobs plan to build a 21^st century economy today at www.bluegreenalliance.org/jobs21.

The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations working to expand the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, the BlueGreen Alliance now unites 10 U.S. labor unions and four of America’s most influential environmental organizations — and their 14 million members and supporters — in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a 21^st century economy.

The Apollo Alliance is a national coalition of environmental, labor, business and community leaders committed to building a clean energy, good jobs economy. Launched in 2003, Apollo’s diverse coalition has offered a bold vision to catalyze a clean energy economy to spur job growth by harkening back to President Kennedy’s visionary call to restore America’s technological leadership by landing the first man on the moon within the decade of the 1960’s.

Candidate Obama first came to the Gamesa Fairless Hills plant in March of 2008 to conduct a town hall meeting with Gamesa’s work force represented by the United Steelworkers Union to jump start the Pennsylvania primaries leading to a national election. Today, three years later, President Obama returned to the same factory and work force and reaffirmed his commitment to keep American workers like those at Gamesa foremost in his thoughts every day of his Presidency in his quest to transform America to a high employment, clean energy economy.

Gamesa has been referred to in the media as a “model U.S. green economy company” for its high road labor and business practices. The President acknowledged this in his remarks today, talking about the inter-connectivity of the green economy, how the country needs to take many single steps in multiple right directions and then aggregate, integrate, and connect those steps to emerge as a fully energy independent nation freed from the geopolitical and geo-cost tyranny of petrochemical global security politics. The President described a number of “virtuous cycle” relationships including smart grids, clean energy, electric vehicles, continuous effective education that feed on each other and together serve to produce a more competitive and energy self-sufficient America over time. While cautioning that it will not happen overnight, the President noted China’s and Europe’s lead in green energy technologies and affirmed that America needs to shine as an exporting nation that manufactures and produces goods at home.

Gamesa’s U.S. trajectory has mirrored the plusses and minuses inherent in U.S. national energy policy hits and misses. Without a national clean energy or renewable energy standard and rebounding from the market after effects of the national “great recession”, Gamesa announced pre-Thanksgiving 2009 that it was idling one of its two Pennsylvania factories only to see that factory in Ebensburg re-open in early 2010 and even add a second production line for the first time thanks to targeted federal stimulus funds through Pennsylvania’s Green Energy Works program.

The President answered a number of questions from a very engaged and supportive audience ranging from smart grid enhancing national deployment of wind power, the high degree of jobs and economic benefits associated with energy efficiency, and whether the production tax credit and ITC grant programs would continue. The President stated his determination to make the latter permanent and insisted on the value of continued investment in high performance, high impact education for America’s workforce as a leading differentiator between standing still, going backwards, or surging forward, signaling the Green Academy partnership between Gamesa and Bucks County Community College as a relevant local example.

Throughout his remarks and answers to questions posed by the audience, President Obama made references to Gamesa’s pioneering role since its arrival in Pennsylvania in 2005: the first overseas wind turbine manufacturer to start building in the U.S; the first to sign and embrace an award-winning, progressive relationship with organized Labor (the United Steelworkers Union); the first to transform an abandoned brownfield industrial site into a green energy manufacturing hub; the first to achieve upwards of 65% domestic content in its wind turbines; the first to sign & implement a R&D partnership with a major U.S. defense aerospace & shipbuilding prime contractor (Northrop Grumman, now Newport News Shipbuilding) to develop, build and site next generation off-shore wind turbines “made in the USA” and “first in U.S. waters”; and now the first U.S.-based wind turbine manufacturer to win the 2011 U.S. EX-IM Bank Exporter of the Year award for the wind turbines Gamesa has exported from its Pennsylvania factories to wind farms in Honduras and Mexico.

Policies that infuse hope, translated into jobs, producing change American workers can believe in.

-Michael Peck is an Apollo Alliance Board Member and Founder of MAPA Group. He wrote this guest blog post after President Obama’s town hall meeting at the Gamesa Fairless Hills plant north of Philadelphia today (April 6, 2011).

Guest Blogger Michael Peck is an Apollo Board Member and Founder of MAPA Incorporated

Those of us who stand with the thousands of nurses, police, fire fighters, and government workers inside and outside Madison, Wisconsin’s state capitol building in freezing temperatures are fighting for more than balancing a budget and even more than the right to bargain collectively for our own welfare.  Indeed, the stakes are much, much higher and go to the core of who we are as a people and country.

What’s going on in Madison is about respecting the Declaration of Independence principles, the right of free speech, association and assembly, and whether the United States is going to remain a country by and for the people or cede the public square to business and financial oligarchies and the richest twenty percent of our population who hold eighty percent of our national wealth.  What’s going on in Madison is about who stands on the side of America’s abused, defrauded, and sacrificing middle class, those who involuntarily bailed out Wall Street bankers and traders only to see them self-award multi-million dollar bonuses on top of mega-million dollar salaries while at least fifteen million of us remain in President Roosevelt’s words, “ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”

What’s going on in Madison is all about character and principle.  While we understand the political argument that busting unions denies “get out the vote” funding during the 2012 election cycle for those who oppose the choice of corporate tax breaks at expense of working families, the right to collective bargaining is no different than a women’s right to choose, the right to bear arms, the right to vote, and other privileges associated with being an American citizen.

The approach taken by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, his tea party supporters, and Republican Party strategists will not stand.  Those who figure they can call the ideological shots, rig the people’s deck, and use a balanced budget imperative to tilt the scales further against those who don’t have enough in favor of those who have way too much, will not stand either the test of time or stand up to the cold temperatures outside that state’s capitol enlightened by heartfelt fires of lasting indignation burning in the souls of citizens fighting for their lives.   The debate has moved from “Don’t Tread on Me” to “Don’t Tread on Us”.

For the first time since the Great Depression generation, the American dream is much more about surviving next week’s bills and dramatically less about equal opportunities to achieve any measure of economic security or progress.  The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that 43.6 million Americans now survive on food stamps. Food stamp dependency is connected to income inequality and unemployment rates in ways few dare to dispute.  Instead of evangelical prosperity, the American dream has become one without generosity and equal treatment under the law redefining tens of millions of our fellow citizens as those who can be deprived of their historical rights such as the right to collective bargaining which originated in the progressive state of Wisconsin.

The nation’s and this state’s alarming fiscal condition hold no more bandwidth for self-serving personal hypocrisy on the part of leaders masquerading as public stewards who when elected ram their personal ideological rants down the throats of misled and poorly represented voters.  “Do as I say but not as I do” is un-American.  What Madison shows us is that the American belief in national exceptionalism cannot exist without a thriving and growing middle class composed of empowered workers who fought for and won the right to collective bargaining against all odds at the price of their own lives and blood.

To avoid the past from becoming prologue, we must stand up to those who would lead us down the path of one more elite, greed-infested bridge too far and lay the groundwork for national class warfare to everyone’s civic peril, just as our brothers, sisters and children in Madison are doing.  This nation’s historical transition from political theater tea partying in Boston harbor to Sons of Liberty armed resurrection, from Articles of Confederation to a binding Constitution reforged and strengthened by a devastating Civil War, should give pause to those who operate behind ideologically gated communities of the mind and heart.

Today in Madison, Wisconsin, we are witness to a new American ground zero of decency and courage, to whether our country can serve as an example to anyone anywhere or just as another cautionary tale proved recently in Tunis, Cairo, Bahrain and other places that freedom in the streets cannot be repressed by those who misinterpret democracy and act against the people’s interests.

It’s been two years since local, state and national clean energy, good jobs experts and advocates gathered in Brick City for Newark’s Green Future Summit and laid out new ideas for making the city a better place to live, work and play. The summit process culminated in the release of Imagining Newark’s Green Future: A Year Building the Green Economy which described priorities and action items for green economic development, green buildings, and green open space.

Since that time steady progress has been made towards Newark’s green future by its dedicated citizens and public servants. Here are just some of the highlights of what’s been accomplished:

• Establishment of a Sustainability Office and hiring of a sustainability officer to advance Newark’s green agenda in collaboration with community partners and other city agencies.
• Formation of an Environmental Commission, which guides city efforts and, in partnership with the sustainability officer, drafted a stormwater ordinance, sustainable land use ordinance, green building ordinance, and green procurement ordinance.
• ARRA funded planning process to create a sustainability action plan for the next five years in the areas of greenhouse gas reduction, energy use, asthma-associated air pollution, water management, and waste management.
• Public commitment that sustainability principles will be considered in every aspect of the city’s revised master plan.
• Creation of the Park Works youth training program.
• Establishment of the Solar Panel Energy Savings & Training Project to increase the city’s solar infrastructure and to train and certify Newark residents in solar installation.
• Creation of green career tracks in Newark’s vocational technical high schools.
• Launch of community/labor partnership to train Newark residents in weatherization.
• Community outreach on energy saving opportunities for households and businesses.
• Distribution of compact fluorescent bulbs to residents in collaboration with Project Porchlight.
• Participation in a pilot project to reduce emissions, save gas, and raise awareness about efficient vehicles by leasing Mini Coopers to city staff.
• ARRA funded project to build compressed natural gas infrastructure for sanitation fleets.
• Installation of solar panels on a municipal garage in a public-private partnership between the City of Newark, Western Solutions, and the Urban Environmental Institute in conjunction with a training program for local youth.
• Large scale tree planting initiative to create urban forests in target neighborhoods.Major park renovation and expansion initiative in a public-private partnership with GreenSpaces and the Trust for Public Land.Expansion of the “Adopt-a –Lot” program to turn small lots into gardens and pocket parks.
• Launch of the “Clean and Green” training program in partnership with the Greater Newark Conservancy to train formerly incarcerated residents in landscaping and stormwater management.
• Launch of a city interdepartmental “Green Team” to promote sustainability, increase recycling, and reduce toxics.Plans to retrofit at least 14 municipal buildings following energy audits.
• Brick City Development Corporation program to get healthier foods into small grocery stores.
• Expansion of urban farming efforts by Garden State Urban Farms (formerly Brick City Urban Farms) and Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District.
• ARRA funded remediation of brownfields back to productive use including workforce training elements and community advisory groups.
• Application to the state’s Sustainable New Jersey program to become a certified sustainable community.

Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance says, “As Newark’s successful model demonstrates, the key ingredients (to transform struggling areas) are innovative leadership, community engagement, and of course, hard work.” This list of achievements represents truly impressive progress and exemplifies all of these things. The Apollo Alliance applauds the leaps and bounds that are being made towards Newark’s green future.

On Monday, February 14th, President Obama released his budget for fiscal year 2012. The budget contained many cutbacks, but it also funded many transportation projects and increased infrastructure spending for which Apollo Alliance’s Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan strongly advocated. The proposed budget is a step in the right direction for improving our nation’s failing infrastructure and spurring job growth in the manufacturing sector.  In total, the budget allocates $50 billion towards new transportation investments in the first year of a six-year investment plan totaling $556 billion. Although it will likely change once the House proposes a budget, it is encouraging to see that the President’s thinking aligns with Apollo’s and that investments in transit  may be increased.

Below are some comparisons between Apollo’s TMAP and the President’s 2012 budget.

TMAP:  Invest $30 billion in public transit annually.

DOT Budget: Public transit is funded at $19.83 billion annually ($119 billion over 6 years – a 128% increase over Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equality Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)).

TMAP: Invest $10 billion in intercity passenger rail annually.

DOT Budget: Intercity passenger rail funded at $8.83 billion annually ($53 billion over 6 years)

TMAP: Expand Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Program beyond its $122 million annual allocation.

DOT Budget: $450 million for TIFIA to help meet the growing demand for highway credit assistance to States.

TMAP: Expand Transportation investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) and Transit investments for Green House Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) programs.

DOT Budget: $2 billion for a National Infrastructure Investments (NII): This program, similar to the TIGER program, will provide grants to state and local governments and transit agencies for capital investments in the Nation’s surface transportation infrastructure.

TMAP: Expand innovative infrastructure financing approaches to leverage greater state, local, and private transportation investment, reduce energy consumption, and support domestic manufacturing.

DOT Budget: Establishes a National Infrastructure Bank, which will work with credit markets and private-sector investors to maximize return on federal transportation dollars. The bank will initially receive $30 billion over six years, reside within the DOT, and be managed by an executive director with a board of officials from the DOT and other federal agencies.

TMAP: Projects must be subject to strong selection criteria that evaluate economic and environmental benefits, including equity and job quality goals, and ensure payment of a prevailing wage.

DOT Budget:

• Provides $32 billion for the Transportation Leadership Awards to encourage fundamental reforms in the planning, building and management of transportation system and reward states and regions that implement strategies that further the Department’s strategic goals.
• The Administration’s proposal will bolster state and metropolitan planning, award funds to high performing communities, and empower the communities and planning organizations to determine which projects deserve funding.

TMAP: Develop a national freight plan and upgrade our nation’s freight vehicle fleet, and support local port clean-up plans to drive clean freight movement.

DOT Budget: Highway Infrastructure Performance Program: $16.8 billion funds a formula-based program to improve infrastructure condition and performance. This system is a defined network of national interest that will operate as a cohesive highway system which will carry 55% of all traffic and 97% of all truck-borne freight.

TMAP: Encourage product standardization and improve procurement practices to make the transit, rail and clean truck manufacturing sectors more efficient and save taxpayers money.

DOT Budget:

• $7.5 billion for Transit State of Good Repair: Will help pay for capital asset renewal and replacement of local bus and rail transit systems.
• $3 billion for Urban and Rural Formula: Will support over 1,300 local transit agencies with capital assistance, including routine maintenance and limited operating assistance.
• $1 billion for New Starts: Will invest in new transit options to reduce congestion, improve mobility, reduce energy consumption, and create more livable communities.
• $3 billion for Rail Network Development: Will help develop our high speed rail network, to ultimately connect 80% of Americans to an efficient passenger rail system over 25 years.
• $2.5 billion for Rail System Preservation and Renewal: Will allow Amtrak to make critical investments in its aging rail car fleet and bring stations into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• $4 billion for Network Development: Will fund competitive grants to develop regional networks of electrified, high-speed corridors and connect higher-speed intercity passenger rail services.

TMAP: Provide incentives for the purchase of diesel retrofit components, natural gas and other alternative-fuel trucks, and modern freight switcher locomotives and rail cars, technologies that can reduce emissions and fuel use

DOT Budget:

• Requests $110 million for the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) core program in FY 2012 to advance transportation safety, mobility, and environmental sustainability through electronic and information technology applications.
• Requests $100 million increase in conjunction with the President’s National Wireless Initiative to be used over a five years to enable the ITS program to seek innovative opportunities to pursue ground breaking research and competitive deployments of wireless technology applications for transportation.

Apollo is very pleased to see our proposals to improve our transportation infrastructure mirrored in President Obama’s 2012 budget.  We are excited that transportation is set to get the attention and funding it deserves to improve citizens’ quality of life and decrease pollution to create a sustainable future.

“This is our generation’s Sputnik moment.”  In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama threw down the gauntlet: “We’re issuing a challenge,” he said “We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.”  The mission of Apollo Alliance is literally based on the lessons learned from the “Sputnik moment” evoked last night in the House Chamber. Since our founding, we have been hard at work to put big ideas into sound policy proposals that will reduce carbon emissions and oil imports, spur domestic job growth, and position America to be competitive – and thrive – in the 21st century economy.

In fact, in 2008, the Apollo Alliance developed The New Apollo Program to put substance behind this call for energy independence that was a major issue in the ’08 presidential campaigns. The title was inspired by the Apollo space program, in which the United States – inspired by our 1960’s “sputnik moment”- embraced a similarly ambitious national purpose to surmount a formidable technological challenge within a decade.

“The Apollo Alliance speaks directly to the Sputnik moment that President Obama evoked in his State of the Union address last night” said Apollo’s Executive Director Cathy Calfo. “Capturing momentum to secure the promise of a new clean energy economy is the challenge of our generation…So to hear this clarion call from our nation’s President was music to my ears”

The New Apollo Program is a guiding document for Apollo Alliance’s policy priorities and it includes five specific initiatives:

1. Rebuild America Clean and Green: Produce 25 percent of the nation’s power from renewable sources, modernize the power grid, andimprove transit systems.
2. Make it in America: Retool American factories to build renewable energy systems.
3. Restore America’s Technological Leadership: Double national investment in clean energy research and development.
4. Tap the Productivity of the American People: Invest in green-collar job training initiatives– to provide better jobs and the workforceneeded to build the clean energy future.
5. Reinvest in America: Establish a “cap and invest” program to reduce carbon emissions and reinvest resources to build the new cleanenergy economy.

President Obama went on to address our nation’s transportation systems; “Our infrastructure used to be the best – but our lead has slipped …China is building faster trains and newer airports. Meanwhile, when our own engineers graded our nation’s infrastructure, they gave us a ‘D.’”

Expanding on the “Make it in America” portion of the New Apollo Program, Apollo decided to tackle our nation’s infrastructure as a top priority. Continued underinvestment in infrastructure and a lack of environmentally sustainable transportation options has left roads and bridges crumbling, mass transit systems in disrepair, and a transportation sector that accounts for almost one-third of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. In our Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP), Apollo offers recommendations to leverage much needed infrastructure investments to create middle class jobs for Americans. The TMAP investment scenario will create 3.7 million direct and indirect jobs – 600,000 alone in the manufacturing sector over the next six years, the likely duration of a reauthorized transportation bill. Transforming our transportation system, the way we move people and commerce, is the single most important thing we can do to end our addition to foreign oil.

By making these investments, we can get our economy back on track while doubling ridership over the next two decades, and building out a comprehensive intercity and high-speed rail system. In addition, these investments will generate $60 billion in net annual gross domestic product, nearly $45 billion in additional worker income, and $14 billion in annual tax revenue, spurring additional growth throughout the economy. United Steel Workers President Leo Gerard said of TMAP “This is an opportunity to rebuild the important transportation infrastructure of this country and to put it in a first class system. The additional benefit we can call … the triple bottom line. We get to create good family supporting jobs, we get to spend dollars in a way that is going to grow the economy but just as importantly, we take carbon out of the air.”

Both The New Apollo Program and our Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan recommendations are built upon an incredible body of independent research, conducted by leading universities, policy experts and research institutions. Apollo Alliance stands ready to work with the President and Congress to achieve the historic goals laid out in last night’s State of the Union address–to help rally America’s can do spirit to make our nation more competitive, prosperous, and energy independent.

Apollo Alliance’s Shanelle Smith was invited by the Emerald City Collaborative to the White House on Tuesday, January 18th for a cross-sector dialogue on the opportunities, challenges and strategies for transforming our metropolitan regions into sustainable economies. Shanelle attended two policy briefings with federal and local government, labor, business, and community experts. Below is Shanelle’s account of what her day at the White House means to her and her family.

“My family members and closest friends know that I live and breathe politics, although I do not enjoy speaking about politics at home. I prefer to leave work at work. They affectionately refer to me as a “political junkie,” not because I know who is in office or the ins and outs of Congress, but because I firmly believe that public policy and politics is an avenue where many of society’s wrongs can be made right.

“This belief was not ingrained in me from an early age. I began at Kent State as a pre-dental major, certain that the bulk of my professional career would be spent making recommendations about people’s poor dental hygiene. But after my first political science class, that all changed. As I learned about the workings of the political system, I began to question the world around me and embark on a journey to advocate for progressive change. I never imagined this would lead me to President Barack Obama’s doorstep.

“When people have asked me about my visit to the White House, I have calmly responded, “it was cool.” But in reality, I want to uncharacteristically exclaim “it was extraordinary!!” Last September I started to organize a local effort to push for policies that would ensure access to green jobs to people of color and women in Cleveland. I never would have expected this to lead to an invitation to the White House. I recall sitting in my living room on New Year’s Eve with my parents, receiving the email, telling them the exciting news, and then continuing with our evening. As the day approached, I told a few friends who congratulated me and wished me luck.

“It was not until the morning of January 18th that it actually hit me – I was going to the White House. I could not help but think about my family; my grandfather who could barely read, my grandmother who saw the election of the first African American President, aunts and uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, friends, and adversaries. Thinking about my parents and my nieces and my nephews brought me to tears.

“My parents have sacrificed their lives for me. My mom has been the backbone of our family and has spent all of her adult life working in a factory so she could keep a roof over our heads. My dad gave up years of his life so he could give us an opportunity to succeed. Because of my parents hard work, I have never had to worry about our lights getting turned off, food being on the table, or even how I would get to my measly job at K-Mart. They sent me to college, where I discovered the advocate in me. Although they were not there on January 18th, they dropped me off at the White House.

“The discussions were both inspiring and motivating, making me proud to be part of the effort to build sustainable economies. The talks highlighted all the successful energy efficiency policy models around the nation – from Seattle to Providence. These programs display how energy efficiency programs can lift people out of poverty. The Emerald Cities Collaborative has created a wonderful network for collaboration and further progress. But there was also a large focus on the importance of driving up demand for energy efficiency projects. Although the investments from the Recovery Act provide available funds, a sustainable market is a crucial component of the equation. To establish this, the benefits of investments in energy efficiency need to be communicated at the state and local level to drive policy change at the federal level. Delineating important goals that still need to be met to ensure progress from the many wonderful programs across the country have the greatest impact possible, left me to go back to Ohio to further tackle the problem.

“Tuesday reminded me of what America is about—each American citizen’s opportunity and choice to make excuses or take advantage of all that is offered. I am blessed my parents saw their circumstances as an opportunity provide a life for their kids that they did not have themselves.

“This will not be my last trip to the White House. And every time I am dropped off at that doorstep, I will think of Bev & Bill and carry everything they have breathed in me, with me.”

 When it became clear a couple years ago that the biggest economic recession since the Great Depression would require a big solution, American manufacturers and workers rallied for an economic stimulus package that would help create — and keep –manufacturing jobs here at home. “Make it in America” policies were included to do just that, to ensure that projects built with taxpayer dollars to create domestic jobs by spurring domestic production.   For decades, these policies have strengthened American business and created jobs for American workers during tough economic times, while contributing to the future strength of our nation’s vital manufacturing sector.  In fact, the first ‘Buy America’ provisions required for the transportation sector have been around since 1933: click here for Apollo’s brief history of ‘Buy America.’

However, like all good things, even buy America requirements can be made better.

Fortunately, as we learned this year when we convened the Apollo Alliance’s Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP)  task force there were simple improvements that could be made to ‘Buy America’ policies that would make it easier for businesses to navigate the regulations and paper work associated with these provisions, and that would help to close loopholes in the law that were allowing business, and jobs that could be created here at home, to go overseas. This week, the Department of Transportation introduced a Buy America website that provides much-needed transparency to this process by posting waiver requests and providing other important information to prospective domestic manufacturers.  Companies can also sign up for email updates that inform subscribers when new DoT-funded Buy America projects are initiated. Earlier this year, Apollo called for the creation of just such a website.

Also implementing Apollo’s TMAP recommendation is a bill introduced this week by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and co-sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). The Strengthening Manufacturing and Rebuilding Transit (SMART) ACT would give preference to domestic manufacturers applying for competitive infrastructure grants. SMART seeks to expand public transit and freight services while maximizing the benefits to our domestic supply chain and creating good paying American jobs in the process. It would also authorize the Department of Transportation to work with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to conduct “scouting” to help fill gaps in the domestic supply chain. “The road to prosperity begins with bringing middle class manufacturing jobs back to the United States” said Cathy Calfo, Executive Director of Apollo Alliance.  This is a common sense bill that will ensure that Americans are put to work producing the equipment of America’s future in America. We applaud Senator Brown on his leadership with this issue that is sure to bring many jobs back where they belong.”

The Apollo Alliance has been calling for initiatives to support our manufacturing sector, cut carbon emissions, and increase access to public transit for some time now.  Drafted with input from leading manufacturers, labor unions, and policy experts in transportation, energy, and economic development, Apollo’s TMAP details how an annual investment of $40 billion in public transportation and high speed rail, coupled with smart policies to leverage these investments, can create 3.7 million jobs (600,00 in manufacturing alone) over the next six years.

To learn more about TMAP, check out the plan’s webpage here.