Latest Unemployment Rate Points to Need for Comprehensive Clean Energy and Climate Change Legislation in 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 4, 2009) Following the announcement by the Labor Department today that the nation’s unemployment rate has increased to 9.7 percent, with a loss of 216,000 jobs in August, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director David Foster:

“As the country begins to pull itself from the worst of this economic recession, it is essential that we find new strategies to create jobs and revitalize the sectors of our economy that have been hardest hit during this downturn – including manufacturing and construction.

“Passing comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation is the quickest and most effective way to create millions of jobs building the clean energy economy, which is why it is imperative that the Senate act to pass this legislation this year.

“Recent studies have shown that we can create 1.7 million jobs across the United States with a $150 billion investment in clean energy. The Blue Green Alliance recently found that with a strong Renewable Electricity Standard, we can create more than 850,000 manufacturing jobs in wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power.

“With the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act in June, the House of Representatives moved us further down the path to accomplishing this goal. The Senate must act this year to move this legislation forward and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy that creates good jobs, reduces global warming and makes America more energy independent.”

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The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched by the USW and the Sierra Club in 2006, the Blue Green Alliance has expanded to include CWA,NRDC, LIUNA, SEIU, UWUA and AFT – uniting eight million people in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.