(Click on image to go to live steam)

Can the US be more than just a giant market for clean energy? Can it also lead in clean-energy manufacturing?

Those questions are at the heart of a panel discussion today hosted by the Apollo Alliance and the Center for American Progress. The event is being Webcast live from 9AM to 5PM (EST). It’s a fascinating discussion with some of the top people in the fields of clean energy and green jobs.

Here’s the agenda:

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.: Opening Remarks:

Phil Angelides, Chairman, Apollo Alliance

John Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for American Progress

10:00 – 11:15 a.m.: The American Clean Energy Economy in 2020: What Should It Look Like and How Can We Get There?

Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Bob Borosage, President, Institute for America’s Future

Peter Brehm, Vice President of Business Development and Government Relations, Infinia Corporation

Kathleen McGinty, Former Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Moderated by:

Susan McGinnis, Managing Editor and Anchor, Clean Skies News

11:30 – 12:15 p.m.: Keynote Speeches: Perspectives from House and Senate Champions on How to Grow a Thriving and Globally Competitive Clean Energy Economy

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA)

Introduced by:

Cathy Calfo, Executive Director, Apollo Alliance

1:00 – 2:30 p.m.: The U.S. and the World: What Are Other Countries Doing and What Could the U.S. Do?

Thea Lee, Deputy Chief of Staff, AFL-CIO

Leo Hindery, Chair of the U.S. Economy/Smart Globalization Initiative, New America Foundation

Julian Wong, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress

Joan Fitzgerald, author of Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development

Moderated by:

Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

2:45 – 4:15 p.m.: Educating the Clean Energy Workforce of the Future

Andy Levin, Chief Workforce Officer, State of Michigan

Louis Soares, Director of the Postsecondary Education Program, Center for American Progress

Van Jones, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Founder, Green For All

Joel Rogers, Director, Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Moderated by:

Kate Gordon, Vice President for Energy Policy, Center for American Progress

4:15 – 5:00 p.m.: Making America A Winner in the Clean Energy Economy

Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to Vice President Joseph Biden

Phil Angelides, Chairman, Apollo Alliance

Solar Thermal Where it’s Hot. Solar PV Where it’s Not.

Nothing really to say other than: Enjoy this beautifully produced video showing a solar tower in Spain and rooftop PV in England.

CNN: Earth's Frontiers

Watch the video below

If HB2701 passes Suntech may relocate first North American manufacturing plant by Chinese solar company

In a surreal scene yesterday afternoon, the Republican-dominated House Government Committee voted *5-to-2 to approve a bill that major business interests in the state had just testified against, portraying HB 2701 as a major jobs-killer in a state that has been one of the hardest hit by the current recession.

Back Door Attack

The bill adds “nuclear” power to the list of renewable energy sources that count toward Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standards (RES). Used by 32 states, an RES mandates that a certain percentage of a utility’s electricity be produced by renewable sources. (No other state counts existing nuclear power generation toward meeting an RES mandate.)

But even proponents of the bill say privately and sometimes publicly, that their intent has nothing to do with extending renewable incentives to nuclear power. A source working with pro-HB2701 legislators agreed with the assessment that what is really at issue is a “turf battle” between the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) that currently sets the RES and the legislature, which believes only it has that power.

Some speakers last night objected to being “caught in the middle” of the battle.

A Turf Fight – and More

But there is much more going on than feuding elements of government

A representative of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, speaking in favor of the bill, based his argument in part on doubts about the reality of climate change. Even if it exists, he said, he’d still back HB2701 because the bill would end government subsidies for all renewable energy sources.

Click on image to download bill (pdf)

Representative Steve Montenegro (R-12), a co-sponsor of the bill and a committee member, explained his support for the bill during yesterday’s hearing. “I’m a believer in the free market,” he said. “Solar should stand without having to be propped up,” by government incentives.

Democratic Rebuke

That drew sharp criticism from Democratic minority whip, Chad Campbell (D-14), also a member of the committee, who countered that all energy sources receive government subsidies of some sort.

“While we sit here and debate whether solar is viable,” Campbell added, “the rest of the world has already decided it is.”

The bill now moves to the House Committee on Rules, before heading to the floor for a full House vote.

(You can read more about the bill in an article I wrote for OnEarth magazine.)

*One of the no votes came from Republican Warde Nichols (District 21), a cosponsor of HB2701.