More green-energy stimulus aid sought
The Columbus Dispatch – Federal stimulus dollars are helping Ohio companies make components for wind, solar and other energy production, but some "clean energy" advocates say that more assistance is needed to continue creating green manufacturing jobs.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is pushing to more than double the $2.3 billion in stimulus funding approved nationwide for the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit program.
Brown hosted a roundtable in Columbus yesterday with executives of seven Ohio companies that have received $125 million from the program. One, DuPont Co., is adding 80 workers as part of a $175 million expansion in Circleville to make a film called Tedlar used in solar panels.
The Democratic senator noted that China, Germany and other counties are investing billions of dollars in alternative-energy production, and he said Ohio and the United States cannot afford to fall behind.
"If we don't act we're going to replace our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on other countries manufacturing solar panels and wind-turbine components and so many other very, very important components of our energy future," Brown said at the Ohio Manufacturers' Association.
