Here's is the full transcript. Here is video:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The American Wind Energy Association's Denise Bode said:
"The U.S. wind energy industry alone has opened or expanded more than 50 wind turbine component manufacturing facilities in the past two years, creating an estimated 9,000 domestic manufacturing jobs in 2008," added Bode, who will be present for the event. "With the right policies, the renewable energy industries are ready to meet the President-elect's call to double renewable energy production within three years and help drive our economy to recovery."Cardinal Fastener is one of the few companies that will be hiring this year:
"Our company is planning for growth to meet expected increases in wind power sales, and is looking to add up to 40 full time associates in 2009 to our current 65," said Cardinal Founder and President John Grabner. Cardinal is the largest manufacturer of American-made large-scale threaded fasteners, which are used to bolt wind turbine towers, which can stand 200 feet tall or more, to their foundations. Cardinal uses only American-made materials and all production occurs at Cardinal's 95,000 square foot factory in Cleveland. The company has been in business for 25 years, and recently added a Wind Power team to meet demand from the expanding U.S. wind industry.Wind energy employs a relatively small number of workers:
About 80,000 U.S. workers are employed in the wind industry today, in jobs as varied as turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation of wind turbines, wind turbine operations and maintenance, services, and more. Wind power's recent growth has accelerated job creation, particularly in manufacturing, where the share of domestically manufactured wind turbine components has nearly doubled in three years, expanding from 25%-30% in 2005 to 50% in 2008. AWEALet's hope that as wind energy companies gear up to become more powerful, they set an example by treating their employees well.
