$100 Billion Could Yield Two Million "Green" Jobs (Deborah Zabarenko)

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Green Jobs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A $100 billion U.S. government investment over two years could create two million "green" jobs in such industrial sectors as steel and construction, environmental and labor groups said on Tuesday.

"From the point of view of the steelworkers union, the view is quite simple, that a energy efficient green economy creates jobs and it can create jobs in America," said Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers.

{xtypo_quote_right} Many of the new jobs would be in construction, where some 800,000 jobs have been lost in the last two years, according to Robert Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. {/xtypo_quote_right}

He said the U.S. move toward wind power has already prompted the reopening of two struggling steel mills, now making steel plate for use in new windmills.

Beyond that, the retrofitting of old, energy-inefficient buildings would create jobs for steelworkers, glassmakers and those who manufacture heating and cooling systems, Gerard said in a telephone briefing.

Gerard and others cited a report commissioned by the Center for American Progress think tank, assessing the benefits of the $100 billion investment plan.