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Congress: Please save my Main St. job, not that fat cat's Wall St. job

September 24, 2008 by Dennis Markatos
https://www.publicradio.org/columns/sustainability/greenwash/2008/09/congress_please_save_my_job.html
I got that call today.The one no one wants to hear from their CEO — that it’s possible the
company I work for will run out of money for my part-time position and
have to let me go. But, unlike some investment bank officials who got a
similar call, our solar energy company didn’t do anything wrong.We are just prisoner to the waiting game that Congress keeps us in
by not renewing the green energy tax credits that help our country deal
with the energy crisis.A recent study showed that 440,000 new people could join me as workers in the solar industry if the tax credits are renewed. And wind power is set to be the key
emerging source of electricity for our country if renewal occurs. Yet
for these past several months, Congress has failed to act.The oil crisis that brought record gasoline and diesel prices to our pumps again this summer did not ignite Congress. The gasoline shortages that now cripple communities across the Southeast has not yet closed the deal.And now many members of Congress are instead considering bailing out
a financial industry that has acted recklessly and twisted rules to
gain tremendous, unsustainable profits. After bankrupting our federal
government by cutting taxes and fighting overstretched wars, the Bush
Administration asks to borrow money from our children’s hard-earned
living to help banks that were doing the equivalent of playing in the
casinos with our life savings. No thanks.I’m glad the Senate finally passed a renewal of the green energy tax
credits this week. Will the House step up and do the same before they
focus (even more) on getting elected? Or will they decide, rather, to
concentrate their energy on giving big banks cash for trash?
Here’s hoping Congress prioritizes saving millions of green Main
Street jobs so we can get our economy back on sound footing and our
climate won’t self-destruct on us.