Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Subcommittee on Green Jobs and New Economy, held a field hearing in the Vermont Statehouse on Thursday morning.  This hearing examined clean energy job development policies in Vermont and their applicability nationwide.  Sanders heard from Vermont green energy entrepreneurs, workers’ advocates, academics, and others during this roundtable discussion.  “Today’s hearing is an opportunity to learn about what is happening in Vermont on energy efficiency, sustainable energy, and green jobs development. It is an opportunity to learn about where we are today in this revolutionary process and where we want to be in the future,” Sanders said in his opening remarks. 

Sanders has coauthored two major green collar jobs programs: the green jobs training program and the Energy and Environmental Block Grant program.  The green jobs legislation authorized funding to train workers in green collar jobs that involve the design, manufacture, installation, operation, and maintenance of clean, efficient energy technologies. The Energy and Environmental Block Grant program authorized funding directly to states, cities, towns, and counties to invest in technologies and approaches that improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and decrease overall energy use. 

The hearing, entitled “Examination of Green Jobs Development Policies in Vermont,” is scheduled for at 10:30 a.m. in Room 11 of the Statehouse in Montpelier.  The Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy is part of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

For more information of the hearing, click here.

Read the senator's opening statement here.