Senator Mark Udall’s Words of Support

[Excerpts with permission from Colorado Senator Mark Udall's newsletter, dated December 8, 2010]

Dear Fellow Coloradan,

Over the last two years, I’ve traveled the state whenever I get achance to speak with local business owners, community leaders and workers, learn from their experiences, and take their ideas back to Washington. As a result of my Colorado Workforce Tour, I’ve had the chance to meet with innovative entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and making Colorado a remarkable place to live and work, even during these tough economic times.

Not only has my Colorado Workforce Tour allowed me to stay in touch with hardworking Coloradans, but many of my best legislative ideas over the past two years have emerged from these meetings, including a package of four bills that I introduced to create thousands of home-grown clean energy jobs.

The Workforce Tour was such a success that I decided to expand the concept. In February, I hosted the Colorado Energy Jobs Summit that brought together business leaders, scientists,energy and environment experts, and public officials to discuss how our state could capitalize on Colorado’s abundant sun, wind and natural gas resources. And, more recently, I enlisted the help of all Coloradans to suggest ideas for creating clean energy jobs. Every Coloradan – no matter what their political persuasion – should have a role in helping to make our economy stronger.

I look forward to many future meetings with the companies,entrepreneurs and educators who are leading Colorado’s economy forward, creating jobs and helping train the workforce of the future. And I’m eagerly mining the clean energy job ideas that you submitted through my website to inspire legislation for the next session of Congress.

Through my Workforce Tour, I’ve met hundreds of Coloradans who are pushing Colorado forward. I’ve highlighted a handful of these stories for you to read below.

Warm regards,
Mark Udall

Veterans Green Corps – Durango

Sen. Udall speaks with Veterans Green Corps crewmembers.

As our young men and women in the military return from Iraq and Afghanistan, many want training or experience to help them smoothly transition to civilian life and land good-paying civilian jobs. Veterans Green Corps allows these veterans to apply the skills they learned in the military to protect and preserve our nation’s public lands while gaining valuable experience that can be applied to jobs in forestry, firefighting and other careers geared toward the environment and land management.