HOOSIER ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL & INDIANA BUSINESSES PUSH FOR ‘GREEN JOBS DEVELOPMENT ACT’
(Indianapolis, Ind.) – The Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) today (1/26/09) pushed for the passage of the “Green Jobs Development Act,” legislation that could help jumpstart Indiana’s economy.
HEC, the state’s largest environmental policy alliance, is working to educate the public and the Indiana General Assembly about the economic benefits of the Act, which is made up of HB 1349, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend), and SB 283, sponsored by Sens. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) and Sue Errington (D-Muncie).
“Indiana needs a package of carefully designed policy initiatives to encourage investment and job growth,” said Jesse Kharbanda, HEC’s executive director. “This legislation not only meets that need, it also improves the quality of our environment.”
The Green Jobs Development Act would establish a renewable electricity standard (RES) that requires utilities have a portion of the electricity they sell come from renewable energy sources within the state. It also would ensure Indiana receives at least 20 percent of its energy from renewable or energy-efficient resources by 2020.
These initiatives would lead to new Hoosier jobs through new investments by renewable and clean electricity companies. According to a 2008 manufacturing report by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, more than 1,300 Hoosier manufacturing businesses could be re-tooled to produce renewable energy components, giving Indiana the second highest potential in the country for such jobs.
Even more positions stand to be created through the re-tooling of existing businesses to produce renewable energy components, as well as through maintaining, installing and marketing clean energy technologies.
“Indiana is the only state in the Upper Midwest without an RES, and we’re losing out to significant national investment as a result,” said Tom Kanczuzewski, president of Inovateus Solar, a distributor of solar thin film in South Bend. “At a time when our state is facing incredible challenges, the Green Jobs Development Act will go a long way toward spurring job growth and rebuilding our economy.”
“Net metering” – where consumers and businesses are able to generate their own electricity and roll their meters back when they return any excess power to the electric grid – is also included in the Green Jobs Development Act.
“Adopting the Green Jobs Development Act will create jobs, help moderate Indiana’s energy prices, and attract ‘green technology’ and investment to our state,” said Brad Morton, president of Evansville’s Morton Energy, which markets and sells alternative energy technologies. “Nearly everyone – from businesses and homeowners to investors and farmers – stands to gain from this legislation.”
“Improving the quality of our environment and improving our state’s business climate don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” said Kharbanda. “We look forward to sharing this message with our state’s legislature in the coming months, and working with them and our supporters to move our initiatives forward.”
To learn more about the HEC and its legislative agenda for 2009, please go to www.hecweb.org.
For more information contact:
Jesse Kharbanda, Executive Director, HEC, 317.685.8800 ext. 103
jkharbanda@hecweb.org