Calls to create clean-energy jobs were a common refrain at a 7 July US Senate hearing for a bill pending in Congress. The Waxman–Markey bill aims to create jobs, reduce global warming and encourage the use and creation of alternative sources of energy. The House of Representatives passed the bill on 26 June and the Senate is likely to introduce its version in the coming weeks.

Senator Benjamin Cardin (Democrat, Maryland) argued that the priority should be to foster green jobs. “This bill is about keeping jobs and expanding jobs,” he said. Senator Kit Bond (Republican, Missouri) countered that the bill would “impose new energy taxes”, reduce jobs and create a “bureaucratic nightmare to implement a carbon cap-and-trade programme”.