Obama touts green jobs as key to recovery

ARLINGTON, Texas, March 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama pushed his clean-energy agenda Friday, stressing in Arlington, Va., the prospect of green jobs fueling an economic recovery.

"The jobs of tomorrow will be jobs in the clean energy sector," Obama said at Opower, a 75-person smart grid and energy efficiency software company that works with utilities to help people use energy more efficiently. "That's why my administration is taking steps to support a thriving clean energy industry" that makes solar panels, builds wind turbines, produces leading-edge batteries for fuel-efficient vehicles and helps consumers control energy costs.

Obama reminded his audience that he urged Congress earlier this week to pass Home Star, a rebate program that would help promote making homes more energy efficient. Under his proposal, Home Star would offer homeowners rebates worth up to $1,500 for individual home upgrades and up to $3,000 for retrofitting the entire home.

"Think about the way that the rebates we're talking about could help spur private sector job growth," Obama said. "It could not only help businesses like Opower to help consumers make their homes more energy efficient, it's also going to create business for the local contractors and the companies hired to upgrade homes," creating a positive rippling effect on the economy.

"We need to invest in the jobs of the future and in the industries of the future, because the country that leads in clean energy and energy efficiency today, I'm absolutely convinced, is going to lead the global economy tomorrow," Obama said. "I want that country to be the United States of America. I want companies like Opower to be expanding and thriving all across America. It's good for consumers. It's good for our economy. It's good for our environment."