Brown Pushes for U.S. Loans to Manufacturers in Energy Bill
Business Week – June 22 (Bloomberg) — Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat wary of the impact of climate legislation on U.S. manufacturers, says he is pushing to include billions of dollars of loans and tax credits in any energy measure.
Brown said he wants the Senate to add $30 billion in government-backed loans for manufacturers, and is asking the Obama administration for an additional $5 billion in tax credits for companies that invest in clean-energy facilities.
Those provisions might help struggling U.S. manufacturers expand, and induce companies in China, Japan and Europe to open up factories in the U.S., he said.
“There are certainly ways to encourage companies to invest here, and hire Americans,” Brown said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Washington office. “We can’t continue to be a prosperous, middle-class society if we don’t keep making things.”
