Some have criticized the administration's $787 billion stimulus package, which allots $80 billion for renewable energy development, saying it has done too little to create jobs. Even though the nation is no longer in recession, unemployment rates are at levels not seen in decades.
But government officials will redouble efforts to bolster green job growth, the New York Times reports.
Green energy is "an underdeveloped developing industry" in the U.S., said Michael Peck, director of external affairs for wind turbine builder Gamesa. And "what's missing," said Pew Environmental Group director Phyllis Cuttino, are "policies to take a lot of projects to scale."
Some high-profile green energy companies have pared their American operations in recent months. Evergreen Solar moved solar panel production jobs from Massachusetts to China, and Gamesa cut half its workforce at a Pennsylvania turbine plant.
There would be more green investment if government incentives matched those offered by some Asian countries, suggested Solar Energy Industries Association president Rhone Resch. "Malaysia will give [green energy firms] a 10- or 20-year tax holiday," he said.
