Joe Biden’s Middle Class Task Force hosts summit on green jobs 1

Joe Biden will host the first meeting of his Middle Class Task Force on Friday at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on the potential for green jobs to create a pathway to economic stability.

The panelists gathered in Philadelphia—including greens, labor leaders, and the president’s top advisors—will explore several main questions: What are green jobs, how can they help the middle class, and what are the roles of various stakeholders in making that happen?

Biden penned an op-ed in Friday’s Philadelphia Inquirer on the meeting and the prospects for green jobs. “Investing in green jobs also means keeping up with the modern economy,” he writes. “At a time when good jobs at good wages are harder and harder to come by, we must find new, innovative opportunities.”

Speaking on the panels today:

• John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress
• Van Jones, president of Green for All
• Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund
• Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change
• Leo Gerard, president of United Steelworkers
• Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter
• Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Authority
• Mark Edlen, managing principal of Gerding-Edlen Development

Also expected at the event:

• Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
• Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
• Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
• Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
• Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis
• Director of White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes

Check in later for more from today’s summit.

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