By Louis Porter

MONTPELIER – A hearing on the potential of "green energy" jobs has left U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders more convinced than ever that the sector promises not only less reliance on fossil fuels but an economic windfall.

Sanders, the Vermont Independent who is the head of a Senate subcommittee studying the issue, heard from several state and local officials across the country during a Tuesday hearing, including Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss, who has Sanders' old job.

Kiss told about efforts in that city to encourage and strengthen energy efficiency and other programs, Sanders said.

"The conclusion of almost everybody was that there is huge potential in this country to create good paying jobs in energy efficiency, where Vermont has perhaps been the nation's leader," said Sanders, whose subcommittee is part of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee.

One interesting thing that came out of the hearing was the fact that New Jersey produces the second-largest amount of solar power in the United States, after California, he said.

"It means the state of Vermont can produce a substantial amount of that energy" as well, Sanders said.

There may be widespread agreement that green energy projects, many funded or otherwise encouraged by the federal government, will create jobs, but there is less consensus that subsidies, advantageous rates and the other mechanisms for getting such projects built are necessary or a good idea.

However, Sanders said there is another reason that such efforts are imperative.

"If this planet, not just the United States but countries around the world, do not get aggressive and get serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions, we will in the not too distant future reach a tipping point," he said. "It is not just environmental damage, it is economic damage. I don't think any sane person thinks … you have a choice."

There are roughly 770,000 green jobs in the country now, according to Sander's office, with more on the way. In Vermont that will mean a variety of new energy sources and some old ones like wood and other biomass used in new ways, Sanders said.

And it means other things as well, like initiatives to use central heating plants to warm many buildings in a city or town rather than having each have its own heating source. Vermont communities including Burlington, Randolph and Montpelier, are considering some version of that idea, Sanders said.

"You are going to save money, you are going to create jobs in the forests," Sanders said. "We can do it. There are going to be breakthroughs every day."