My mom is one of the millions of Americans affected by the collapse of the American automotive industry. For 25 years, she worked at the General Motors Powertrain plant in Toledo, earning enough to provide a decent home for her family and send her daughters to college. A consummate worker with years of manufacturing experience, she was laid off and suddenly faces an uncertain future.
Now in her fifties and with no college education, her options are limited. Go back to school? Invest in herself and start a business? When you’ve collected a paycheck from others all your life, entrepreneurialism isn’t as easy as it sounds. That leaves retirement. But my Mom and others like her would much rather go back to work in the clean energy industry than collect from social services for an early retirement.
The energy bill passed last week by the U.S. House would allow her to do just that. My family is grateful that Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur prioritized the needs of working families by voting for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.
If we want to put people back to work, we need a new national energy policy that invests in American manufacturing and will allow employers to hire good American workers like my mother. The House-passed energy bill will create strong demand for clean energy and puts the mechanisms in place for that demand to be met by American workers making the components and systems of the new clean energy economy.
During my mom's career, we’ve seen plant closures throughout Northwest Ohio. We are tired of seeing Wall Street get the federal aid that Main Street so desperately needs. We need support for Toledo. The American Clean Energy and Security Act will provide it.
