The Green Jobs Act of 2007—a historic bill that puts millions of dollars toward national and state job training in green industries--passed its first hurdle in Congress and will be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

The bill authorizes up to $125 million in funding to establish national and state job training programs to help address job shortages that are impairing growth in green industries, such as energy efficient buildings and construction, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, and biofuels development. It mandates that $25 million must be used for creating pathways out of poverty for low-income adults.

"By helping to create good-paying jobs in industries that are likely to continue to grow for years, this bill would take a good step towards making the American economy more competitive," said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor committee. "And by helping green industries to grow by providing them with a strong supply of well-trained, highly-skilled workers, this bill would remove one of the barriers that slows our progress in confronting the serious dangers posed by global warming.”

The Green Jobs Act would also help identify and track the new jobs and skills needed to grow the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. Among other things, this effort would link research and development in the green industry to job standards and training curricula.