>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? no. it's way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with a thousand community senters to create wi-fi enabled places so students from low-income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to demoy. >> energy secretary-general i ever granholm talked about clean energy and jobs at an event hosted by the national urban league in washington, d.c. she discusses the biden administration's policies, highlighting investments made from the inflation reduc act and other legislation. and how jobs are being created around the clean energy sector. this is about 40 minutes. ■z

>> i'm chief executive officer of the national urban league. let's hear it urban league movement. give it up. we are here. in washington, d.c., for this very important three days, begie

calling our energy jobs convening, say energy jobs. so importantly, we are here because we are mindful of the challenges we face as a nation and as a globe. those are challenges with respect to whether you refer to it as climate change, global warming, or adjustments in w*eter patterns, there is no -- w*eter patterns, there is no doubt something is occurring and impacking our quality of life. if you have ever traveled through union station, wonderful union station, there is an inscription above the entrance. maybe you have, maybe you have not, looked at that inscription. it speaks about one of the greae history of humankind.

that technological advance was the invention or the creation of fire as an enabler. change the trajectory of human beings. fire gave people a different way to prepare food. a different way to warm. and if you study humankind, the invention of fire also accelerated the growth of human beings. the next great invention was the invention of electricity. and the ability to electricity to impact the way people lived. we who have grown■l up in the 2h and 21st centuries have been

great beneficiaries that have revolution.wñ indeed, in this room the electric lights. the air conditioning and heating systems. this microphone. the ability of c-span's cameras to capture us in real time and transmit the visuals to people all over the nation and the world on either small devices or large devices has been enabled by electricity. a serious advance. and many technological advances that we have enjoyed have been enabled by electricity. imagine your home without a stove. imagine your home without a washing machine. how many of you are old enough

to remember when you put clothes on a line? our lives have been changed by electricity. electricity has to be generated and created. it has to be produced. and the methodologies of producing electricity have changed and advanced of the methodology of producing power have changed and advanced overqt we enjoy, there is always a plus and then there are challenges to that. and the challenges to -- chalnge is to the modern world whether it be electricity or

internal combustion engine or other things that improved significantly our quality of nos to us as human beings. as americans. as people in communities. and it is in this moment in time when policymakers, business leaders, faith leaders, community leaders, labor leaders, and people are tkwrapleing -- grappling with how to ensure that the inventions and those things ande improved our quality of life, that helped us live longer, have helped us live healthier are going to continue to be available to us in the 21st century, and in a way and in a fashion that does not have significant detrimental impacts. that's the challenge before us.

i'd like toe break it down -- to break it down. sometimes in the discussion about renewable energy, it can become scientific and esoteric.e seek to understand this reality. we are challenging ourselves today, but we are challenging those in government, those in the private sector, those are the labor community, those who are decisionmakers about this transition that we insist, we demand to be at the table. to be at the table to discuss, to participate, to be stakeholders in not only the decisionmaking, but the execution of thirgs change. president biden took on this

challenge and passed the blueprint bill which includes an abundance of provisions in it with regard to renewable energy and this we have to unpack, educate, and understand what that blueprint looks like so that we can fully participate in it. no one is better situated than the national urban league, urban league affiliates, and the urban league to play a constructive role, a constructive role in this and on this issue than we are. because we are connected in 92 communities. because we don speak about black americans, we don't speak about communities of color, we

don't speak about americans who are left out of the economic system, we are that. we represent that. that's our mission. that's our purpose. that's our reason for being. so when we are at the table we come with authenticity. not with just stuth a voice. where does that lead us? it leads us to what i shared earlier today. it leads us to a desir to understand the jobs transition that's taking place. to realize that the new jobs that are being created broadly in this transition are jobs that require technical skills, that fay higher than the average -- pay higher than the average american job, but also jobs where historically our community has been what? underrepresented.

so we are here to take step forward and accelerate our participation in this industry. secondly, opportunities. say business opportunities. >> business opportunities. >> we as i said earlier are not satisfied with being consumers alone. we need to be producers in, we cannot close the wealth gap in this country unless we can build businesses owned by people of our community of size and scale. in this new industry there are opportunities. but we need open doors. we need access to capital. we need our young entrepreneurs to know that they are not going to be standingis online at c-span.org. we leave it to take you live to e