Economic panel look at energy, green jobs

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- Energy was the focus of an economic recovery panel meeting Wednesday, but financial oversight and employment aren't far behind, President Barack Obama said.

Members of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board "are doing an extraordinary job" on a range of issues, Obama said after attending the panel's first quarterly meeting.

White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee chaired the meeting, and participants received -- but took no action on -- a paper, "Energy, Environment and Technology," which favored moving toward a cap-and-trade emissions scheme and reviewed anticipated cost increases anticipated by using low-carbon energy, including those that ultimately would be passed on to consumers.

Author John Doerr, of Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, said he hopes the paper will be backed by two-thirds of the group.

During the meeting, Obama called a sustainable green economy "a huge, complicated (and) difficult issue." Jeff Immelt, General Electric chairman and chief executive officer, struck an upbeat note on the task of greening jobs.

"I think we're going to be surprised how many jobs we create," he said.

After the meeting, Obama said, "At the end of this discussion, there was impressive consensus about the importance of us getting out front on energy (and) the enormous job creation potential that exists."

The panel also will consider a financial regulatory regime and employment issues as well, Obama said.

The panel, created by Obama in February, is chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Goolsbee, who also was Obama's economic adviser during his presidential campaign, is the committee's staff director. The panel's membership includes experts from business, labor, government and academia.