Biden hosts first Middle Class Task force at Penn

Green is the new blue on Capitol Hill.

On Friday afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden, six members of President Barack Obama's cabinet, Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter were just some of the political figures gathered in Irvine Auditorium for the first meeting of the Middle Class Task Force.

Biden led a forum discussion on "green" jobs - like building wind turbines or making homes more energy-efficient - and how they can be used to empower the middle class.

Investment in green jobs is a major part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus bill.

At the beginning of the meeting, Biden personally thanked Specter, who was one of three Republican senators who voted for the stimulus bill and was instrumental in getting it passed.

"You're responsible for this, and I thank you," Biden said.

John Podesta, president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress and director of Obama's transition team, was one of the experts on the first panel.

"Global warming is the greatest market failure in history," he said, referencing the current economic crisis in his discussion about the environment.

He described how homes produce more greenhouse gases than cars or industry and "retrofitting America" by making homes more energy efficient is essential.

Van Jones, president and founder of Green for All, a company specializing in green jobs, said the United States needs to reconsider its priorities when it comes to government spending.

"We need a new math . Don't just count what you spend but count what you save," he said.

As an example, he said giving children healthy meals at school may mean more spending now, but it will reduce costs in the long run when overall health care costs decrease.

There were nods from the cabinet and applause from the audience when Jones said, "let's green the ghetto first."

Biden said there is a "dynamic tension between getting money out quickly and making long-term goals a reality."

Rendell spoke about Pennsylvania's efforts to become greener, including that 20 percent of its energy will come from renewable sources by 2010.

Many of those present at the meeting stressed that a greener economy would mean more jobs for Americans.

Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers of America, said he would probably be called a protectionist, but "we need to make sure the green economy is an American economy."

Biden said the vast majority of green jobs are "not exportable; they are all American jobs."

Penn Democrats Vice President Mike Stratton, who attended the event, said the task force's choice of Philadelphia as the location for its first meeting is important since it is one of the "neediest cities in the country."

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