Alice's Sharebook 

The Energy Bill is moving!

More than 2.5 million new, green jobs and energy independence are at stake.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has a plan to make it happen.

Tell your senators to support Sen. Brown's IMPACT Act of 2009!

Dear Alice Diane,

For decades, we have watched American manufacturing jobs shipped overseas. Now, as we face our highest unemployment rate in 25 years, the consequences of our complacency are crystal clear.

An America that can't manufacture its own goods will be a weak America. And with the clean-energy economy poised to grow exponentially, it's more important than ever to keep new jobs here.

Last Wednesday, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio stepped up with a brand new proposal that lays the groundwork for the creation of more than 2.5 million new, green jobs. This plan provides an ironclad economic motivation for hesitant lawmakers from hard-hit states to support the Energy Bill.

The Energy Bill is moving – we need to act quickly. Tell your senators to support Sen. Brown's "Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act."

I was in DC last Wednesday with Apollo Alliance supporters to help build momentum for this bill – it's that important. We've calculated that it would create at least 680,000 new direct manufacturing jobs and nearly 2 million jobs outside the sector.

That means more than 2.5 million Americans put to work creating clean energy technologies. The bill would:

• Invest in loans to small- and mid-sized businesses to retool, establish, or expand clean energy manufacturing capabilities, and
• Increase funding to help manufacturers break into clean energy markets and adopt innovative, energy-efficient technologies.

Will you stand with Apollo and Sen. Brown? Urge your senators to support businesses, workers, AND the environment by supporting the "Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology Act."

With your help, we can generate the resources – and the political will – to create green jobs in an industry that offers a more sustainable solution for our environment, our economy, and American workers.