Bill Clinton calls for green tech jobs

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Former President Bill Clinton said Sunday the key to worldwide job growth lies in the environmental sector and a focus on jobs for women.

Clinton said in an interview on "Face the Nation" that the Clinton Global Initiative next week will focus primarily on job growth not just in the United States, but worldwide. With millions of people across the world looking for jobs, it's time to work within the restraints of the economy, the former president said.

"I think that what we try to do is to deal with the world as it is. So, for example, if the banks aren't loaning money to things that I think will create jobs, we look for other ways to do it," he said."

Clinton pointed to green technology, saying jobs in the sector are growing.

"We also are trying to create more jobs around the world by focusing on the possibilities of green energy elsewhere, because it's not just in America that the green tech jobs are growing at twice the rate of overall employment. That's true around the world," Clinton said in an interview on "This Week."

A focus on empowering women and young girls is also key to economic growth, Clinton said, because in many countries they're not included and "that's dragging the economic prospects of everyone down."

"I think there will be somewhere on the order of $5 billion or $6 billion worth of commitments over a multiyear period to do more to, for example, establish women businesses in developing countries where women have not been a full partner in the economy, as well as to send more young girls to school and give them access to the economy," he said on "Meet the Press."