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Biden to announce money for green jobs, training in Denver

DENVER, Colorado ” Vice President Joe Biden and two Cabinet secretaries are traveling to Colorado to announce national programs to train workers for “green jobs” making public housing more energy-efficient.

Biden was to oversee a meeting in Denver Tuesday of President Barack Obama’s Middle Class Task Force.

Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, a task force member, plans to announce that some of the $787 billion in economic stimulus money will be spent on energy improvements to public housing.



Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, another task force member, will announce stimulus money will be used to train workers for those jobs.

The meeting will be held at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where Obama signed the stimulus plan into law three months ago.

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Donovan and Solis also plan to announce their departments are working together to make it easier for public housing residents to find training programs or green jobs.

The energy, education and labor departments also were set to announce a partnership to help link the unemployed with jobs, training and education opportunities.

The task force has been working since January on policies to help America’s middle class, which has suffered in the recession.

The administration has touted green jobs as a way to help the economy and the environment.

The task force released a report in February saying green jobs pay up to 20 percent more than other jobs and can’t easily be transferred overseas. They’re more likely to be union jobs and are more likely to be held by men, less so by minorities and people who live in cities, according to the report.

Donovan has said investing in public housing will help improve the quality of the housing, reduce energy costs for residents and the government and create jobs for people who live in the units and in the surrounding community.


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