A Strong Middle Class

Now's your chance to weigh in on the future of America's middle class. What sort of green jobs do you want to see? What infrastructure should be fixed? Joe Biden wants to know!

This is from MSNBC...

President Obama announced the creation of a task force to boost the economic fortunes of American's faltering middle class. Its first order of business will be to find ways to create more jobs in areas that pay well, reduce pollution and lessen America's reliance on foreign oil.

Have an idea? The administration wants to hear from you. Submit your ideas here.

The president appointed Vice President Joe Biden to lead the task force, which will hold monthly meetings, the first in Philadelphia on Feb. 27.

Obama said his economic stimulus plan now before Congress would double renewable energy to about 10 percent of the nation's total production, and would create 3 million jobs, many of those in green industries.


From energy grid to insulated homes
Some industries are primed for green jobs: Utilities could enlist workers to build a more powerful and efficient energy grid, and developers could build more energy efficient homes, offices and schools by weatherizing them or building new structures to green codes.

Traditional jobs also could be retooled to go green. For instance, the automotive industry could build vehicles less dependent on, or independent of, fossil fuels, which are tied to global warming, and oil from the Middle East.

While the Senate is still working on its stimulus bill, the House this week passed much of Obama's package, approving $80 billion in clean energy funding: $38 billion for energy efficiency, $28 billion for renewable energy and $15 billion for public transit and clean transportation.

Backers say $6 billion for weatherization, which falls under energy efficiency, would generate 465,000 jobs and insulate 2 million homes.

Biden defended Obama's approach, saying green jobs "pay well, can't be outsourced and will help us move to a cleaner, more self-sufficient energy future."

A White House statement touted other advantages, including lower energy bills, which would leave Americans with more disposable income.