Creating Clean Energy Manufacturing Jobs

December 16, 2009 | 1:49:56

Vice President Biden announces up to $5 billion in funding to create new jobs in clean energy manufacturing during a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force. December 16, 2009. (Public Domain)

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The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 16, 2009

Vicepresidente Biden anuncia apoyo de hasta $5,000 millones para acelerar la generación de empleo en el sector de manufactura de energía limpia

WASHINGTON, DC – Hoy, en una reunión del Grupo de Trabajo para la Clase Media sobre el sector de manufactura, el Vicepresidente Biden anunció el apoyo del gobierno de hasta $5,000 millones en fondos adicionales para un programa bajo la Ley para la Recuperación que tenga éxito en acelerar la generación de empleo en la manufactura de materiales de energía limpia. Esto aumentará en más del triple los fondos de la Sección 48C de la Ley para la Recuperación respecto al crédito tributario para la producción de energía avanzada.
 
 “El sector de manufactura estadounidense desempeña una función vital en nuestra sociedad y economía. Fue crucial en el desarrollo de nuestra clase media y debemos trabajar con la industria para actualizar el sector a fin de mantener nuestra competitividad en la economía del futuro”, dijo el Vicepresidente Biden. “Tenemos que impulsar el crecimiento en la industria verde, y parte de eso implica alentar a las compañías a construir los componentes de la tecnología verde aquí en suelo estadounidense. Si combinamos la fuerza laboral más talentosa, las compañías más emprendedoras y las mejores universidades del mundo con capital inicial proveniente de inversión gubernamental, podremos, una vez más, producir la tecnología de vanguardia que genere los empleos del siglo XXI aquí en Estados Unidos”.
 
Este anuncio es continuación de las ideas para generar empleo que presentó el Presidente la semana pasada. Como lo destacaron las declaraciones presidenciales sobre la generación de empleo, hay un grupo selecto de programas de energía limpia en la Ley para la Recuperación en que la demanda por la inversión supera considerablemente los fondos ya disponibles y podemos aprovechar esos programas para acelerar la generación de empleos. Proporcionar incentivos tributarios a la inversión en plantas para la manufactura de energía renovable en Estados Unidos es una manera especialmente prometedora de generar empleos rápidamente, utilizar inversión privada y continuar el liderazgo emergente de Estados Unidos con el fin de fabricar los productos de energía limpia del futuro.
 
El crédito tributario a la producción de energía avanzada
 
Los mercados de energía limpia están creciendo velozmente en Estados Unidos y el mundo. Como parte de su histórico compromiso en la Ley para la Recuperación, el Presidente se fijó la meta de aumentar al doble la producción de energía renovable en Estados Unidos durante los próximos tres años. Además de cumplir el compromiso del Presidente de reducir nuestra dependencia del petróleo, esto creará nueva demanda para una variedad de productos nuevos. Estas expansiones generarán oportunidades, pero también la obligación de asegurarnos de que los productores estadounidenses sean líderes en la producción de turbinas eólicas, paneles solares, vehículos eléctricos, baterías y otros productos que harán posibles estas transformaciones.
 
El crédito tributario de la Sección 48C para la manufactura de energía avanzada fue concebida para ayudar a Estados Unidos a aprovechar esta oportunidad. Respalda la construcción y equipamiento de plantas nuevas, ampliadas o reequipadas que fabriquen los productos necesarios para echar a andar la economía verde. Este programa cubre tecnología de varios tipos de energía limpia, incluyendo la energía eólica y solar, baterías, eficiencia energética, transporte avanzado y trasmisión de energía avanzada. Proporciona un crédito tributario de 30% a la inversión en plantas que fabrican estos productos.
 
El éxito creó la oportunidad de generación de empleo a corto plazo
 
La Ley para la Recuperación incluyó $2,300 millones en créditos tributarios que respaldarán una inversión adicional de $5,400 millones en inversiones de capital privado. Sin embargo, el programa generó bastante mayor interés del previsto. Los Departamentos de Energía y el Tesoro recibieron muchísimo más solicitudes técnicamente aceptables de las que el programa puede financiar con los recursos disponibles. En lugar de rechazar a solicitantes merecedores de respaldo y que están dispuestos a invertir recursos privados para construir y equipar plantas que fabriquen productos de energía limpia en Estados Unidos, el gobierno apoya la expansión del programa.
 
Se asignarán $5,000 millones adicionales que respaldarán al menos $15,000 millones de inversión total de capital, que generarán decenas de miles de empleos nuevos de construcción y manufactura. Como ya existen varios proyectos valiosos en curso e interés considerable en este campo, estos fondos se entregarán rápidamente para generar empleo y apoyar la actividad económica. Al implementar estas medidas, el gobierno utilizará nuevas estrategias para asegurarse de maximizar la inversión privada por cada dólar que invirtamos.
 
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The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 16, 2009

Background on the Vice President's Recovery Act Announcement

Tomorrow, Vice President Biden will kick off over $2 billion in Recovery Act grants and loans that will be made on a rolling basis over the next 75 days to bring broadband to communities that currently have little or no access to the technology.  At an event at Impulse Manufacturing in Dawsonville, Georgia, he will announce an initial $182 million investment in eighteen broadband projects benefiting seventeen states which has already been matched by over $46 million in private capital.  The awards are not only expected to provide initial job opportunities in infrastructure and manufacturing, but help bridge the digital divide and boost economic development for communities held back by limited or no access to the technology.  Secretaries Locke and Vilsack will also visit communities benefiting from these initial awards in the coming days.

Broadband Impact

The new broadband access will help underserved – and often hard-hit – communities overcome the distance and technology barrier by expanding connectivity between educational institutions, enabling remote medical consultations and attracting new businesses – as well as the jobs that come with them.  With new or enhanced broadband access in their communities, business owners will be able to expand the market for their products beyond their neighborhoods, parents juggling childcare will be able to take college courses online, schools with limited course offerings will be able to expand them through distance learning, medical specialists will be able to provide advanced diagnosis for patients in remote areas or consult with colleagues at other hospitals and entire towns will be able to further develop their economies.

Broadband and the Recovery Act

These broadband awards are what the Recovery Act is all about – not just rescuing the economy by providing immediate job opportunities through shovel-ready projects, but also rebuilding better by laying a new foundation for economic growth in communities across the country.  Along with awards to develop advanced battery technology, a smart energy grid, a nationwide health IT network, a high speed rail infrastructure and more, they represent an over $100 billion dollar investment in science, innovation and technology to lay that new foundation and keep American competitive in the 21st century.

The grants and loans are part of an overall $7.2 billion investment the Recovery Act makes in bringing broadband access to underserved communities – $4.7 million through the Commerce Department and $2.5 billion funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Types of Awards

There are four types of awards being made on Thursday:

  • Middle Mile Awards – Build and improve connections to communities lacking sufficient broadband access.
  • Last Mile Awards - Connect end users like homes, hospitals and schools to their community’s broadband infrastructure (the middle mile).
  • Public Computing - Expand computer center capacity for public use in libraries, community colleges and other public venues.
  • Sustainable Adoption – Fund innovative projects that promote broadband demand.

National Economic Council Report on Broadband and Economic Development

The National Economic Council has produced a report on how Recovery Act investments in broadband will leverage federal dollars to expand broadband access and adoption across the nation.  Key findings include:

  • High-speed links to communities.  The report explains the focus of Recovery Act investments in the “middle-mile” networks that connect entire communities to the Internet backbone.  By building and improving middle-mile connections, Recovery Act awards will bring down the cost of private investment and attract Internet service providers to new areas, maximizing the value of federal investment. 
  • Public computer centers and digital literacy.  Recovery Act investments will promote digital literacy among the new generation of students and workers through improved connections and networking at key community institutions, including public computer centers in urban and suburban areas.
  • Connect rural homes and businesses.  In highly rural areas of the country, Recovery Act awards will help build connections to homes and businesses to enable unprecedented opportunities in employment, education, and entrepreneurship. 
  • Create jobs and promote economic development.  The report finds that Recovery Act investments in broadband will create tens of thousands of jobs in the near term and expand opportunities and economic development in communities that would otherwise be left behind in the new knowledge-based economy.

The report is attached.

Impulse Manufacturing in Dawsonville, GA

The Vice President will make the announcement at Impulse Manufacturing in Dawsonville, GA.  Impulse Manufacturing is a 150-employee precision metal fabrication company serving a variety of industries around the world.  The company would like to expand its services, but does not feel like it can do so until issues with insufficient and unreliable broadband capability are resolved.  They note that when customers send them CAD files electronically, their emails often bounce back, and their programming department often cannot download the larger files.  Without significant improvements in broadband capability, this company may have to relocate out of this fiber-poor region to keep its customers. 

North Georgia Network Cooperative

Dawsonville is part of an entire northern Georgia region that stands to benefit from a $33 million award the Vice President will announce on Thursday for the North Georgia Network Cooperative, Inc.  The funding will bring sufficient broadband access to the same rural Georgia foothill communities that in the early 1960s benefited from significant investments by President Kennedy’s Appalachian Regional Commission.  ARC investments at the time brought a new job-producing textile and manufacturing base to these counties, including Union, Towns, Rabun, Habersham, White, Lumpkin, Dawson and Forsyth.  Now, almost 50 years later, the region is facing serious economic challenges as manufacturing jobs are cut and factories shuttered, and is looking to reinvent itself once again by building a technology-based economy – which is heavily dependent on broadband access.  The proposed project will benefit an eight county area with an estimated population of more than 334,000 people and pass through 146 county government facilities, 82 public schools, 7 technical institutions, colleges and universities and 4 hospitals. 

Secretaries Locke and Vilsack

Tomorrow, Secretary Locke will visit the University of Maine in Orono to discuss a broadband award that will benefit rural and disadvantaged portions of the state.  On Tuesday, Secretary Vilsack will travel to Ohio to discuss how a broadband award will help boost economic development in the region and connect the local community to the smart energy grid.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 16, 2009

Readout from Vice President's Meeting with Directors of the National Security Laboratories on the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile

Today, the Vice President was briefed on the state of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile by the Directors of the three national security laboratories.  Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, National Nuclear Security Administrator Tom D’Agostino, and officials from the Departments of State and Defense were also present.  The briefing was provided by Mike Anastasio from Los Alamos National Laboratory, George Miller from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Tom Hunter from Sandia National Laboratory.  The Vice President hosted the briefing as part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal, to the President’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons and to ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 14, 2009

Readout of Vice President Biden's Meeting with President Sleiman of Lebanon

Earlier today, Vice President Biden met with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the White House. During the meeting, Vice President Biden expressed his appreciation for President Sleiman’s efforts during the formation of the new Lebanese government and welcomed the opportunity to work with the new government on a broad range of security, economic, and political issues. The Vice President reiterated the United States’ continued support for a sovereign, independent Lebanon and stressed that our efforts to achieve our goals in the Middle East will not come at Lebanon’s expense. The Vice President emphasized the Administration’s support for Lebanon’s institutions, including the office of the Presidency, and a military capable of safeguarding its independence. Toward this end, the Vice President pledged the United States’ support for full implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. The Vice President thanked President Sleiman for his leadership and commitment to the people of Lebanon.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 08, 2009

Readout of Vice President Biden's Calls with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

The Vice President spoke to both Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier today. The Vice President conveyed the condolences of the American people to those Iraqis killed and injured in today's bombings in Baghdad.  The United States strongly condemns these attacks on the Iraqi people and their elected government.  The perpetrators of today’s bombings will not succeed.  The Iraqi people have repeatedly made clear they embrace a future of promise and progress and reject extremism and destruction.  The United States will stand with the Iraqis and their government as a partner and a friend as they build national unity.

Vice President Biden Dispels Myths Around Medicare and Health Reform

December 6, 2009 | 4:47

Is it sensible to think that the heirs of those who created Medicare would destroy it? The Vice President thinks not and restates that health insurance reform will protect Medicare, not hurt it. (Public Domain)

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Vice President Biden Swears in Ambassador Huebner

December 4, 2009 | 15:15

The Vice President swears in David Huebner as the new ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. December 4, 2009. (Public Domain)

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The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 03, 2009

Vice President Biden Hosts Conference Calls with Governors, Mayors and County Officials to Discuss Recovery Act Implementation

Earlier today, the Vice President hosted two conference calls with governors, mayors, and a county official from across the country to discuss implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The following elected officials participated:

GOVERNORS:

  • Governor John E. Baldacci (D-ME)
  • Governor Ted Strickland (D-OH)

MAYORS & COUNTY OFFICIAL:

  • Mayor George Heartwell (D-Grand Rapids, MI) )
  • Mayor Lee Leffingwell (D-Austin, TX) )
  • Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D-Boston, MA))
  • Mayor Andy McKenzie (R-Wheeling, WV)
  • County Deputy Judge Scott Kimmich (R-Kenton County, KY)

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
December 02, 2009

Vice President Biden Presses Agencies to Increase Extent and Transparency of Recovery Act Recipient Reports

Federal Agencies Will Identify Non-Filing Recipients, Assess Possible Actions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the direction of Vice President Biden, the Administration is taking new steps to improve the extent of detail in reports submitted by recipients of federal recovery funds. 

“More than 90 percent of all Recovery Act funding recipients reported on the use of their funding.  While this level is remarkably high for a first-of-its-kind nation-wide effort, missing information is unacceptable.  We will work to make sure that recipients fully meet their legal obligation to report,” said Vice President Biden.  “Our direction emphasizes the extraordinary responsibility that falls on all government workers to prove to the American people that we are spending their dollars well – to inform citizens how, when, and where Recovery Act dollars are being spent.”  

Congress required that Recovery Act funding recipients report quarterly on the use and economic impact of those funds at the local level.  The Recovery and Accountability Transparency Board published the first report data on October 31, 2009.  A recent analysis from the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) noted the effort to educate recipients and encourage reports provided unparalleled access to data about the use of federal dollars at the local level.

However, the Vice President was not satisfied with the data, both in terms of data quality and of the incomplete set of reports from funding recipients, and pressed for steps that would work to close the gaps on the level and detail of reporting. 

The Vice President’s team and the White House Office of Management and Budget already are working with the Recovery Board to address data quality concerns.  Now, in a memorandum to department and agency heads, OMB Director Peter Orszag is requiring federal agencies to identify each non-compliant recipient, learn about the circumstances of the non-compliance, and determine the need, if any, for future action regarding each non-filing recipient.

“At no other time, with no other federal program, has the government ever attempted to provide this level of transparency on the use of federal funds,” Vice President Biden said.  “Our actions today continue the Administration’s commitment of going beyond ‘business as usual’ to develop an unprecedented system of obligating, disbursing, tracking, and reporting on the use of Recovery funds.”

The OMB guidance deems recipients of Recovery Act funds who failed to submit a Section 1512 report, as required by the terms of their award, to be non-compliant.  Federal agencies are directed to consider a range of actions based upon the severity of non-compliance.  For less serious instances, such as those involving recipients who experienced technical challenges, agencies are to help recipients avoid similar problems in the next reporting cycle.  In more serious cases, existing funds could be revoked or the recipient could be barred from receiving any further federal funds after repeatedly failing to file required reports.  If the non-compliance appears to be fraudulent, agencies are to refer the matter to appropriate officials for criminal investigation.

To follow the Recovery Act’s progress, visit www.whitehouse.gov/recovery.