Federal Budget: First Shot of the Green Collar Revolution

Promoted from the forums. -- David

Trent Dougherty is the Director of Legal Affairs at the Ohio Environmental Council.

In these dire economic times, Ohio families are forced to make hard choices when they look at their personal budgets – pay the rent or pay credit card debt; save for a child’s future education or save for future medical expenses; put food on the table or gasoline in the family car. However, in the debate over the federal budget, Congress is faced with at least one rather easy choice, follow the old thinking that has left us in the environmental, social, and economic mess we currently suffer, or forge new pathways to prosperity by investing in our environment, our health, and our economy.

“Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come in yours and my discharge.” Shakespeare’s quote could be etched on the cover of the FY2010 federal budget. What has happened in the past has led up to present day events, and that it is up to us to determine what the future will bring.

Conventional wisdom under previous budget debates was that you couldn’t fund protection of the environment unless you hurt business development, or that investing in job growth meant devoting less money to education and social programs. From that wisdom, we face localized as well as global environmental crises, an education gap, and unemployment numbers not seen in 70 years.

The president’s budget, of course, provides line items and dollar values for environmental, social, economic and health protections just like those of past Presidents. And, depending on what press release you read or interview you hear, those line items will either eliminate the federal deficit created by the previous administration or push us deeper into debt. Yet what makes this budget different is its course towards a better future for all Americans - by investing in clean environment and healthy and prosperous communities by blazing the trail for a green collar revolution. This revolution is not just about curbing air pollution or putting people to work, but creating new and sustainable industries and markets that will help sever our ties to dirty and unstable energy sources while at the same time providing opportunities to lift people out of economic disparity and putting them on true career paths.

The arsenal for the green collar revolution in the proposed budget includes such weapons as: $39 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency investment and $20 billion in tax incentives; unprecedented funds for USDA programs to green-up and sustain America’s farms; billions investing in weatherization of low-income homes that could save hard working families hundreds of dollars every year.

Not only does it take investment to clean energy to jumpstart the green collar revolution, but also it requires investment in people. Another major part of the budget is the investment in education, and specifically increasing access to higher education. A highly skilled and diverse work force is paramount to the

While what happens in Washington is important to us, the two organizations we represent, Ohio Environmental Council and Center for Community Solutions, care most about Ohio and the quality of life for Ohioans. Because of the vast natural and human resources we have in this state, with passage of this budget, Ohio is poised to be the flag barer in the green collar revolution. Ohio’s strength is in its diverse core industries (manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and technology) its diverse population of skilled trades-people, educators, entrapenurs and its rural communities, urban centers, and transportation hubs. Ohio, a century and a half ago was a leader in the country’s manufacturing boom, but time and change has shackled us to the moniker of the Rust Belt. The economy of the past has left Ohio as one of the nation’s leaders in greenhouse gas pollution and nearly dead last in economic growth. With the federal government’s investment through the proposed budget, Ohio can be a leader once more – generating clean energy, manufacturing the components for renewable energy, and educating the leaders for tomorrow’s economy.

Ohioans, young and old, of all backgrounds and skills, are ready to serve as the footsoldiers of this green collar revolution. But first, it is the duty of Ohio’s Congressional delegation to lead the charge with the passage of a FY2010 budget with strong and sustained investment in clean energy.