Supporting Job Growth in the Emerging Energy Sector The development of energy saving and renewable energy technologies to combat rising energy prices offers an enormous opportunity for job creation and small business growth in Wisconsin. Businesses, schools, and builders of all kind are looking for ways to make buildings more energy efficient, conserve energy, and expand renewables, creating a huge demand in the energy sector for jobs – jobs that are far more likely to stay right here in America. Many of these jobs could be provided by innovative Wisconsin small businesses doing cutting-edge work in the emerging energy industry. Our state is well positioned to become a leader in this industry, creating new jobs in the process, but many businesses face the challenge of moving new technologies to commercialization. As part of my E4 Initiative, I am introducing the Energy and Technology Advancement (ETA) Act to help businesses move new technologies from the research and development phase to the marketplace. By encouraging partnerships between government and businesses, this bill can move up the ETA – estimated time of arrival – for bringing new technologies to the market. The ETA Act focuses on encouraging the Department of Agriculture (USDA), which includes the Forest Service, to serve as a “business incubator” helping businesses get new technologies off the ground. It provides a bridge to move technology from the research and development phase to commercialization, which will make new energy technologies a reality. Specifically, my bill encourages the USDA to:
The ETA Act also puts the business incubator concept into practice by requiring the USDA to pursue a biorefinery pilot plant that will allow businesses to partner with the federal government to test promising technologies, thus increasing the chances of commercializing biofuels. The cost of the legislation is fully offset. Additionally, as part of my E4 Initiative, I have introduced legislation to increase funds for small business research and development and help direct these funds to areas of national priority such as energy. Small businesses in the emerging energy industry provide a great place to invest our resources for job creation, as American small businesses generate approximately half of our nation’s payroll jobs and most of our new employment opportunities.
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U.S. Senator Russ Feingold - http://feingold.senate.gov |