Clinton suggests Tarp go green

By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles
Published: February 16 2009 23:50

Bill Clinton has waded into the debate about the allocation of funds from the troubled asset relief programme, saying banks should be directed to loan money to businesses embarking on environmentally sustainable projects.
Speaking at the opening of a Burbank, California, aircraft hangar designed to meet strict sustainable building standards, the former US president said such a move would create more jobs and speed the transition to a green economy.

“We need to create a user-friendly ‘just say yes’ system,” he said.
Developers hoping to build environmentally friendly buildings have been hamstrung by the credit freeze, he said. He proposed that money from the second tranche of Tarp be used for loans for green building projects.
“Before the banking crisis you could get banks to loan money [for green construction projects],” Mr Clinton said. “What if you set some of the [Tarp] money aside for a small business guarantee programme?”
He added that such projects would create more jobs – 6,000 per $1m invested – than other kinds of loans. “You can get 10 times as many jobs for the same dollars – and they are 100 per cent safe so the banks will get their sea legs again.”
The hangar in Burbank was built to conserve energy and will generate much of the electricity it uses from solar panels. It was built by Shangri-La Industries, a development company founded by Steve Bing, a long-time supporter of Mr Clinton and a big Democratic party donor.
Mr Clinton added that the $30bn earmarked for green job creation in the economic stimulus package passed by Congress was a landmark moment. “We have never had a job programme where the heart and soul of it was a commitment to clean energy,” he said.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009