Business Leaders Count the Cost of the U.S. Senate's Failure to Act on Clean Energy and Climate Legislation; Urge Senators to Put Issue Back on Agenda

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Business for Clean Energy, American Sustainable Business Council, Small Business Majority, We Can Lead and Women's Business Development Center, representing over 5,000 businesses, are highlighting the costs of the U.S. Senate's failure to act on comprehensive clean energy legislation using a ticker that counts, in real time, the amount in which America is falling behind other countries in clean energy investments since the Senate abandoned climate legislation in July. The ticker also points to the jobs that would be created by clean energy and climate legislation. The groups are urging Senators to resume work on a bill.  The ticker will appear in Politico and the Washington Post this week, and appear on the business groups' and their supporters' websites.

The business groups are also sending Senate leadership a letter echoing the message of the investment ticker, stating that, "American businesses are in a global competition to lead the clean energy economy.  Please do not allow gridlock in Washington caused by a handful of clean energy opponents to put us at a competitive disadvantage."

The ticker started counting on July 22, 2010, when it became clear that the Senate would not take up any clean energy and climate legislation this summer, thanks to a handful of senators from both sides of the aisle who opposed moving forward.  The investment ticker will allow clean energy supporters to take action by telling their senators to put comprehensive clean energy legislation back on the agenda this year. The United States falls $260 million per day behind the rest of the world in clean energy investments, and is only investing about half of what China is in clean energy. "The U.S. Senate's failure to move forward with clean energy and climate legislation is hurting America's economy and our global competitiveness; costing American businesses meaningful opportunities to grow and leaving good-paying American jobs uncreated." (Click here to view the full text of the letter).

Each business organization is posting a widget on their website, click here to view the We Can Lead widget.

ABOUT THE GROUPS

American Businesses for Clean Energy is a broad umbrella organization that shows the breadth of business support for clean energy and climate legislation. ABCE will not develop detailed policy recommendations or evaluate specific proposals since existing business coalitions already address those needs. The ABCE initiative is open to any company or business association that supports Congressional action to pass effective climate and energy legislation now. By joining the initiative, these companies are making a public statement urging Congress to act. To learn more about American Businesses for Clean Energy and to pledge support for clean energy legislation, please visit: www.AmericanBusinessesforCleanEnergy.org.

American Sustainable Business Council is a growing coalition of business networks committed to public policies that support a vibrant, just and sustainable economy. Today, the organizations that have joined in this partnership represent over 50,000 businesses and social enterprises and more than 150,000 entrepreneurs, owners, executives, investors and business professionals and other individuals.

Small Business Majority is a national nonprofit organization focused on solving the biggest problems facing America's 28 million small businesses. Based in Sausalito, CA, with offices in Washington, DC, Sacramento and New York City, we conduct extensive opinion and economic research and work with small business owners, policy experts and elected officials nationwide to bring nonpartisan small business voices to the public policy table.

We Can Lead is a nationwide coalition of 1,000 business leaders—innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers and energy providers from states across the country who support comprehensive, forward-looking energy and climate policies in the United States. The network includes small and medium sized companies to large-scale energy providers, Fortune 500 companies and leading consumer-facing brands. We Can Lead is a project of the Clean Economy Network and Ceres' Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). For more on We Can Lead, visit: http://www.wecanlead.org or follow us on twitter @wecanlead.

Women's Business Development Center is the oldest, largest, most comprehensive, and successful women's business assistance center in the United States. We're nationally and internationally recognized for our responsive, innovative, and effective programs and advocacy efforts. We deliver business services and financial assistance to empower women towards entrepreneurship and economic self-sufficiency.

SOURCE We Can Lead