A year ago, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate sat at 5.6 percent. It had been ticking up as the economy stagnated last spring and summer at a steady pace. Then the bottom fell out, and as in the rest of the country, unemployment exploded. In January it hit 7 percent. By July the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent. While this is more than a full percentage point lower than the national rate, it provides no comfort to the 183,000 Pennsylvanians who have lost their jobs since July 2008. Manufacturing jobs, the heart of our economy, comprise a majority of the job losses. In July alone, 80 percent of job losses came from goods-producing industries.

Throughout the recession, Pennsylvania residents who have lost their jobs have been fortunate for the actions taken through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and by Governor Ed Rendell, extending unemployment benefits to 79 weeks. Of course, what we need most of all is to get our fellow Pennsylvanians back to work making things again.

Our best potential for new job creation lies in developing an entirely new sector, one devoted to American energy independence and American self sufficiency and sustainability. Creating thousands of “green collar jobs” offers the best promise of restoring American manufacturing and industrial might for the long term. In fact, the Keystone State has already proven itself one of the leaders in tapping this well. Pennsylvania ranks third in green-collar jobs created with over 38,700 to date, and fifth in the nation in clean energy businesses with nearly 3,000 up and running in our state. If Congress ensures the right market conditions are in place, these numbers will only multiply.

But the phrases “green business” and “green-collar jobs” are often used loosely without any real meaning or definition. Let’s put a stop to that starting this Labor Day. Henceforth, let us be clear that “green-collar jobs” are blue-collar and white-collar jobs with the expressed purpose of achieving energy independence for this nation in a way that is sustainable and stops the threat of global climate change. Let us understand that Pennsylvania’s green businesses promote not just sustainability of the environment, but also sustainability of our families with descent wages, rights at work, and access to quality benefits.

Gamesa, a Spanish corporation that is one of the top wind-turbine manufacturers in the world, fits this definition of a green business. It took over shuttered U.S. Steel plants in Fairless Hills and built a second plant in Ebensburg in 2005. Since opening, the Gamesa plants has invested $200 million in the local economies and created more than 1,000 new green-collar jobs, many of which are performed by employees with a lifetime of experience in the steel industry. Moreover, these workers are members of the United Steelworkers. Thanks to Gamesa’s investment, today more than 850 Pennsylvanians are manufacturing and distributing wind turbines across the country.

Voith Hydro employs more than 550 workers in York County, including skilled machinists who are members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Voith Hydro designs and machines customized hydro turbines for existing dams across the nation, helping to produce hundreds of megawatts of clean energy. Each project also employs 200-400 construction jobs on site to complete these massive projects. Voith uses American steel in its production processes and is proud to be part of a no pollution solution to achieving energy independence for this nation.

I’ve met the leaders of these companies and their workers, and each time they ask me the same thing: “Tell people what you saw here and urge them to create more jobs like these.” Just this week the U.S. Departments of Energy and Treasury announced over $100 million for new wind farms in Cambria and Schuylkill counties that will create more green jobs and eventually generate electricity to power 59,000 homes.

But the greatest investments in our burgeoning green economy are yet to come. The U.S. Senate will soon deliberate the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which passed the House in June. Its passage by the Senate and signature by President Obama would provide tremendous benefits to Pennsylvania and this nation. An investment of $6.1 billion in our state by the Act would create more than 70,000 good paying jobs in a variety of sectors and skills within two years — jobs that would be sustained and kept in Pennsylvania improving our quality of life for not just us, but for our children and grandchildren.

We need Senators Casey and Specter to vote for this vital piece of legislation. It will help restore our economy, put America on a more sustainable energy path and get people back to work. With Labor Day upon us, too many hardworking men and women are struggling to find that next job. Pennsylvania’s future is rich in green jobs. We have the interest. We have the skills. Do we have leaders in Washington to plant the seeds for these jobs to flourish?