Dow Corning CEO Stephanie Burns sees the absurdity of manufacturing polycrystalline silicon in the U.S., seeing it shipped offshore for the manufacture of wafers and modules, which are then transported back here, destined for solar panels placed on buildings and power projects. And she got to tell President Obama directly on Thursday at the “job summit” held in Washington. “Our goal is to have that value chain and those manufacturing jobs here in the U.S. for the U.S. market,” Burns said, as she made herself available to media after the event.
President Obama called on business leaders to help jumpstart hiring as unemployment hovers above 10 percent. Some 130 executives, economists, small business owners and non-profit officials took part. This was Burns’ second visit to the White House this year. She met the president in July at another session that discussed green jobs and renewable energy.
There was at least one specific policy proposal that the business leaders in this part of the job summit. The advanced manufacturing tax credit, currently capped $2.3 billion is inadequate to support new and re-equipped facilities construction and should be at least doubled. Dow Corning has stepped up in the solar energy field, investing more than $5 billion in solar investments the company and its joint ventures at the Hemlock Semiconductor Group in Michigan and Tennessee, creating a total of 1,500 jobs.
Burns said she and other leaders said they still expect carbon regulation by Congressional action next year and would look for some certainty and fair implementation in regards to setting its price, particularly in a way that “balanced for global competitiveness and predictability.”
Burns was on the breakout panel “Innovative Agenda and Green Jobs of the Future,” which was hosted by Energy Secretary Steven Chu and coordinator of energy and climate policy Carol Browner. The group also promoted other renewable energy friendly policies – a national renewable energy standard, increased support for R&D and greater emphasis on education and worker retraining – although none of those strategies will do much to improve employment in the next year.
Green jobs were a centerpiece in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the $787 billion stimulus package, which included renewable energy grants and tax credits. In the intervening 10 months since the stimulus was passed, larger macroeconomic forces have swallowed up much of the momentum created over the past couple years in the green economy. Project finance has stalled for many wind projects, for example. So much of the discussion, while helpful in setting longer-term goals, still relates to what has been slow to develop: green jobs now.
Bill,
Please ask the proponents of green industry:
- May the green sustain green?
- Is it not better to think about SES* than about RES?
*SES – Sustainable Energy Sources
If the States remain the country where hydro power is still "not green" , "not clean", "not renewable" - all condemnations from the powerful US "oil gang".