Strengthening the Clean Energy Jobs Bill: Talking Points

The House of Representatives is about to vote on a huge energy bill--and it's up to us to make sure it lives up to President Obama's vision for a new energy economy. Unfortunately Big Oil and Coal lobbyists, working with conservatives of both parties, have weakened the bill. We need legislation that creates millions of clean energy jobs to revive the economy, so we're urging Congress to strengthen this bill in two key ways:

• Ensure more clean energy jobs for America:

Ensure more clean energy jobs for America: Wind and solar power create more than double the jobs that oil and coal do--high-paying jobs that can't be outsourced. But the current bill would not actually require any more clean energy than is already in the works. We need to restore strong standards for cheap, clean, renewable energy, creating hundreds of thousands of new clean energy jobs.

• Don’t undermine Obama’s authority to crack down on dirty energy:

President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency are taking steps toward new rules to clean up coal plants and oil refineries. But Big Oil and Coal lobbyists slipped in a loophole that would block Obama's efforts. This would open the door to more than 100 new dirty coal plants, crowding out the clean energy growth we need to create jobs and boost our economy.