Clean Cars = Green Jobs

Tesla roadster

Photo: Tesla Motors

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The following is a guest post by Ezra Drissman of GreenCareersGuide

The Department of Energy recently announced plans to give loans to car companies in order to retool to make cleaner, greener cars. With billions now available, these car companies will undoubtedly create more green jobs.

In order to appreciate how much this will affect the green landscape, you must understand where the money is going. The three car companies receiving loans are: Ford, Nissan and Tesla.

Ford, which has long had a stated commitment to environmental practices, boasts the 2010 Hybrid Fusion. The company will receive roughly $5.9 billion in loans, which reportedly will be used to change some of their manufacturing plants around to make more hybrid cars. Tesla Motors is receiving $465 million. The innovative startup makes an all-electric car with a battery that can travel over 200 miles on a single charge (it's also wicked fast). Nissan received 1.6 billion.

Why are clean cars so vital to the green job movement? Imagine turning tens of thousands of car manufacturing jobs into green jobs.

Instead of having manufacturers make dirty gas guzzlers, they can make more hybrid electric and dedicated electric cars. Starting immediately, the loan money will go to directly to hire workers to retool for the clean car industry.

By 2012 not only will many jobs be created, it will also put a good amount of clean cars on our highways. There will likely be a lot more money available to car companies soon, as Chrysler and GM slowly emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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