The Impact of IMPACT

The Impact of IMPACT

Brown Bill to Help Manufacturers Retool for Energy Industry

Brown More Open Minded Now about Nuclear Power

by John Michael Spinelli

June 16, 2009

COLUMBUS, OHIO: Junior Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown announced Wednesday that he and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, (D-Michigan) will introduce a bill to help auto suppliers and other manufactures retool for the arrival of the energy industry, as prospects dim for Ohio manufacturers in response to the shifting sands of the U.S. auto industry.

Slightly off topic for today's agenda, Brown responded to a reporter's question about his position on nuclear power, with the announcement to day by Gov. Ted Strickland that a new nuclear power plant will be built in southern Ohio at the former nuclear material processing facility in Piketon, south of Columbus, the capital.

Brown said he has come a long way from how he thought of nuclear plants decades ago, and says he is now open minded about it. Supporters of the nuclear power plant, the first to be developed since the near meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, say its power, because it doesn't release emissions long attributed to causing global warming, is in today's parlance, "Green."

What Brown didn't say but what this reporter thinks will bode more confidence in everyone that it will be built correctly, was the announcement that one parter in the project will be Areva, a French energy company. Franc's nuclear energy industry is state owned and standardized and has a long history of producing save, reliable and affordable energy for the nation.

What does IMPACT, or Investment for Manufacturing Progress in Clean Technology Act, mean to Brown, who has added today's announcement to a list of others on energy he has made recently that include the announced release of $3.2 million to support clean energy research and development projects in Akron and Canton, a visit to a solid waste authority in Central Ohio as a backdrop to discuss his proposal to expand the use of municipal solid waste as a source of clean energy and his role in the release of a Pew Charitable Trust report on "repowering jobs, businesses and investment across America," a study he referenced again today.

Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Brown said he expects his bill to be included in congressional legislation on climate change, and that enabling small- to medium-sized manufacturers to transition to become more energy efficient or retool to manufacture parts for wind, solar or bio-fuels or for other industries is also a good public policy goal.

He noted that manufacturing auto components is the largest single category of manufacturers in the nation, employing over 680,000 workers, so any help that can be directed toward this sector to keep them going, if not in the same line of work but in a different one like energy, is good.

Wendy Patton of Policy Matters Ohio joined Brown by supplying research information her non-profit, non-partisan group compiles, showing on a county-by-county basis the possible potential of Ohio businesses that would be eligible to participate in a program to be administered and run by states that meet certain national criteria, including having produced their own plans for addressing high-unemployment areas and assistance directed at building manufacturing supply chains.

Patton said PMO's report identified 3,000 Ohio manufacturers, employing 250,000 workers, that could benefit from Brown's proposed federal initiative.

In prepared remarks, Brown said the backdrop to his initiative is that as Congress is weighing sweeping energy and climate change legislation, but the more immediate immediate challenges faced by auto suppliers and the manufacturing industry, which means federal help is needed to support the development of domestic clean energy manufacturing and production.

Supported by leaders in the business, environmental, and labor communities, Brown said his bill, capitalized by $30 billion in treasury funds, would convert to a revolving loan fund after two years. If passed, the bill will become a new funding source designed to help auto suppliers and other manufacturers retool for the clean energy industry. Over time, Brown said his initiative would lead to the creation of 180,000 direct jobs and three-times as many in indirect jobs.

To accomplish these goals, Brown's bill would improve manufacturers’ access to capital and invest in energy-efficient technologies, which he said would create new jobs and increase the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing.

In questions from reporters, Brown said that not only would wind, solar and other energy-related sectors be welcome, but he said any transportation technology that is clean and energy-efficient would also be a good fit for his bill.

For states, who Brown said will process applications, they will need to show proof of their plans for high-unemployment areas, the development of manufacturing supply chains and increasing steel production, which has plummeted of late, among other national criteria his bill sets out.

Brown is right to be energized to by stopping the abuse the country's economic woes have visited on manufacturers, Buckeye or otherwise. The state's largest paper by circulation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ran a story of two reports out today [MSNBC and Brookings] that showed Ohio will again lag behind other states in recovering from the Great Recession, which next to Pennsylvania has hurt Ohio the most.

John Michael Spinelli is a Certified Economic Development Financing Professional, business and travel writer and former credentialed Ohio Statehouse political reporter. He is registered to lobby in Ohio and is the Director of Ohio Operations for Tubular Rail Inc. Spinelli on Assignment is syndicated by Newstex.com, can be followed on Twitter at OhioNewsBureau and available for subscription to Kindle owners. To send a news tip or make comment, email ohionewsbureau@gmail.com
The Impact of IMPACT