Troy, NY, Sep 4 -

Rep. Paul D. Tonko (NY-21) and Rep. Scott Murphy (NY-20) held a news conference Friday to showcase a new interactive map detailing how the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) will impact green business across New York State. The map, created by the Environmental Defense Fund, details over 200 businesses in New York State that are part of the clean energy economy, either through work on renewable energy or energy efficiency projects.

The map can be found on the web at: http://www.lesscarbonmorejobs.org.

Congressmen Tonko and Murphy were joined by Andrew Matonak, the President of Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC), and representatives from the Environmental Defense Fund, the New York League of Conservation Voters, as well as two local business owners who would benefit from the legislation.

Hudson Valley Community College is the hub for a statewide clean energy and semi-conductor training program, which is preparing students for the jobs that will be created as the economy shifts towards green technology development.

In the ACES bill, a cap would be implemented to reduce carbon emissions.  This cap would reward companies that invent efficient and low-carbon ways of creating and using energy. The efficiencies generated will reduce America’s dependence on imported oil, while creating much-needed jobs and protecting the climate. The companies are involved in a wide range of renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, including manufacturing wind turbine components, shipping solar panel equipment and installing energy efficient building materials. The interactive web site also has case studies and worker profiles. Visitors can search companies by state, Congressional district and media market.

“This map shows the crucial importance that energy related businesses play in New York State,” said Rep. Paul Tonko.  “I was proud to vote in favor of the ACES bill in June as it will help to continue creating jobs, move our economy towards a secure energy outcome and clean up our environment.  It is important to know the palpable effects of such a bill and I think this website does just that.”

“The energy independence legislation is the first step towards breaking America’s addiction to foreign oil and transitioning our nation to a 21st century clean-energy economy,” said Rep. Scott Murphy.  “EDF’s new website shows how jobs are already being saved and created here in upstate New York as we work towards becoming a world leader in the clean-energy economy.“

"A clean energy bill that puts a cap on carbon pollution will put American ingenuity to work, and will help launch businesses and create jobs here in New York,” said Marcia Aronoff, Vice President of the Environmental Defense Fund. Our website, LessCarbonMoreJobs.org, has an interactive map showing about 200 businesses in New York that are already working on renewable energy and energy efficiency products. Those businesses are poised to grow under a clean energy bill, but they're just the tip of the iceberg. We can put our renewable energy resources to work for us and revitalize our economy."

"The American Clean Energy and Security Act will help lay the foundation for a 21st century green-tech economy right here in the Capital Region," said Dan Hendrick, communications director of the New York League of Conservation Voters. "It will also help us confront the defining challenge of our day: global climate change. By shifting our energy future away from polluting fossil fuels and toward renewable sources and greater efficiency, this legislation will cut our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and reduce harmful pollution that is wreaking havoc on ecosystems around the world."

“Hudson Valley Community College is a premier resource for clean energy technologies and semiconductor training and education,” said Hudson Valley’s President Andrew J. Matonak.  “We are meeting the workforce demands for industries that provide products and services integral to our current and future quality of life in the 21st century.”

“Ecovative is developing environmentally responsible materials for packaging and insulation to compete with synthetics like expanded polystyrene,” said Sam Harrington, Environmental Director and Design Engineer at Ecovative Design in Green Island, NY. “Our materials have similar performance and cost to synthetics, but they save energy and are far better for the environment from production to disposal.  A carbon cap will enable environmentally responsible companies like ours a more level playing field in the market, and will help create more jobs.”

Gordon Boyd, President of EnergyNext, Inc., of Saratoga Springs, manages group energy buying programs to help customers save money.  The legislation, he said “will not only create thousands of ‘green jobs,’ it will preserve and expand New York’s overall job base by making our electric prices more competitive with other states.  It will also help with the development of new renewable energy sources right here in New York State by making those new generation projects more competitive in the marketplace. My company congratulates Congressmen Murphy and Tonko on advancing a policy that will help the economy of upstate New York at this critical time.”