Report to Show Nearly 2 Million Jobs Lost Due to U.S. Senate's Inaction on Clean Energy/Climate Legislation

More Than Half a Million Jobs Forfeited in States With 10 Percent Unemployment or Higher; Report Highlights Following Impact of Senate's Failure on 20 States:  AR, CA, FL, IL, IN, MA, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, and VA.

… September 14, 2010 News Advisory …

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly two million jobs were left on the table when the U.S. Senate went on recess this summer without taking action on clean energy and climate legislation, according to an analysis that will be released during a live, phone-based news event at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. The news event is sponsored by Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance, We Can Lead, and American Businesses for Clean Energy.

The report will look at the number of jobs lost in 20 states due to the Senate's inaction. Eleven of the 20 states with 10 percent unemployment or higher lost more than half a million jobs in total, according to the new report. The 20 states are:  Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.

News event speakers will be:

• Small Business Majority Founder and CEO John Arensmeyer;
• Clean Economy Network Political Director Tim Greeff;
• American Businesses for Clean Energy Spokesperson Chris Van Atten; and
• Main Street Alliance Field Coordinator Jason Collette.

According to the four groups, the job-creating climate legislation sidelined by the U.S. Senate was one of the highest-impact proposals under consideration for increased employment.  By contrast, President Obama's recently announced infrastructure investment program would create about a million jobs, by one estimate.

Thousands of U.S. businesses – including small firms in all 50 states – support comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation as the best way to maintain American competitiveness with China and other nations, and to help kick start the struggling the U.S. economy.

CAN'T PARTICIPATE?:  A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at http://www.americanbusinessesforcleanenergy.org  as of 6 p.m. EDT on September 14, 2010.  

ABOUT THE GROUPS

Small Business Majority is a small business advocacy group founded and run by small business owners to focus on solving some of the biggest problems facing small businesses today. The small business community is vast, diverse and dynamic. It includes 6 million small employers with 43 million employees and 22 million self-employed people, with varying political points of view. But they have at least one critical thing in common: Together, these entrepreneurs and other small business owners create jobs, innovate and grow the economy.

The Main Street Alliance is a national network of state-based small business coalitions. The Alliance creates opportunities for small business owners to speak for ourselves, advancing public policies that are good for our businesses, our employees, and the communities we serve.

We Can Lead is a nationwide coalition of more than 1,000 business leaders - innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers and energy providers - who support comprehensive, forward-looking energy and climate policies in the United States which will catalyze and grow a portfolio of new and existing energy sources, create new American jobs and end our boom/bust energy cycles. The network includes small and medium sized companies to large-scale energy providers, Fortune 500 companies and leading consumer-facing brands.

American Businesses for Clean Energy (ABCE) is an initiative to demonstrate large and small business support for Congressional enactment of clean energy and climate legislation that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ABCE's goal is to create a single place on the web where individual companies and business organizations can register their support for Congressional action, and to demonstrate the depth and breadth of business support for this legislation.

SOURCE Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance, We Can Lead, and American Businesses for Clean Energy