The Green Bank is essential for a clean-energy strategy

"The Green Bank is essential for a clean-energy strategyThe new institution will lower energy costs, create jobs, reduce carbon
emissions, and protect our national security(By Jake Caldwell via Center for American Progress)The United States must build and deliver clean energy today to create jobs,
lower energy costs, and strengthen our economy. The establishment of a
federally owned, independent, not for profit Green Bank—formally called the
Clean Energy Deployment Administration, or CEDA, in legislation now before
the Senate—will spur private-sector investment in innovation and American
ingenuity to help end our dependence on oil, and help diversify our
nation's sources of energy to lower prices over the long term while also
confronting global warming. The Green Bank will improve our global economic
competitiveness, too, by making the United States a worldwide leader in the
manufacture and deployment of clean-energy technology.The creation of a Green Bank will encourage a long overdue integrated and
strategic approach to clean-energy innovation, efficiency, and deployment
in the United States. In combination with Senate action on clean
energy—legislation that provides incentives for the research, development,
and deployment of clean-energy technologies, and a market-based
pollution-reduction program that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and
reinforces a predictable price signal on carbon—the Green Bank will open
credit markets, motivate private business to invest again, and create good,
clean-energy jobs here at home.In partnership with the private sector, the Green Bank will enable
innovative, commercially viable clean-energy technologies in such areas as
wind, solar, geothermal, advanced biomass, increased efficiency, and
transmission infrastructure—all to be deployed on a large scale. The
construction and actual deployment of these clean-energy technology
projects is vital to a clean-energy future.What's more, clean energy delivers long-term job growth and holds
tremendous new job-creation potential, particularly in the manufacturing
sector. A recent report from the Center for American Progress and the
University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute notes that
$150 billion per year in clean-energy investment can generate a net
increase of 1.7 million jobs.In short, the Green Bank can encourage the rapid deployment of clean energy
and ensure that lower energy costs are passed on to consumers. In addition,
the Green Bank can act as a bulwark against higher energy costs associated
with volatile fossil fuel prices.Costs and benefits of the Green BankA Green Bank funded at $7.5 billion could fund generation of 60 to 80
gigawatts of clean energy over a period of 20 years, or 3 to 4 GW annually.
The result: Our national security will be enhanced by reducing our
dependence on foreign oil. A fully capitalized Green Bank at $50 billion
could:Provide enough electricity to power approximately 22.9 million cars per
yearDecrease gasoline consumption by an incremental 12.6 billion gallons
per yearDecrease oil consumption by an incremental 642 million barrels per
year, or 1.8 million barrels per dayIn the past, Congress has encouraged private-sector equity investments in
wind, solar, and other clean technologies through tax credits. Equity
investments are important, but the deployment of major clean-energy
projects will also require significant loans and low-cost debt financing.
The Green Bank will marshal a variety of well-established financial tools
and incentives to enable the federal government to enlist the private
sector to increase the amount of debt capital available at lower rates to
clean-energy projects. A Green Bank can vastly expand the tools available
to lenders by providing direct support, such as direct loans, letters of
credit, and loan guarantees, and indirect support, like authority to issue
bonds, purchase debt securities, and other financial products.In a"