Jerry Brown emphasizes green energy in jobs plan

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown quietly unveiled a jobs plan Sunday that calls for creating green-energy jobs, investing in the state’s infrastructure and education, increasing manufacturing jobs and improving job-training programs.

“Most new jobs should and will be created in the private sector, but government can play an important role in establishing a favorable climate for job creation,” Brown wrote.

The 10-page plan was released with no fanfare on the candidate’s website. It details Brown’s job-creation achievements while governor and Oakland mayor and as the state’s current attorney general.

The bulk of the document and the most detailed proposal is Brown’s idea for stimulating the creation of clean-energy jobs, a plan he released earlier this summer. The state should produce 20,000 new megawatts of renewable energy and energy storage while increasing energy efficiency, an effort that will create 500,000 new jobs over the next decade, Brown wrote.

In addition to building large and small energy generators, he calls for placing solar panels on roofs throughout the state and along highways. One-third of the state’s electricity should come from renewable sources, he wrote.

Brown also says he would consider tax breaks to encourage the creation of manufacturing jobs and calls for the creation of a strike team to attract and retain jobs.

Much of the plan consists of goals but few details on how to accomplish them. For example, Brown calls for “robust investment” in roads, bridges and other parts of the state’s infrastructure, improved job training and increased spending on education but does not discuss where the money would come from at a time when the state is grappling with a $20-billion budget shortfall.

A spokeswoman for Republican Meg Whitman called the plan “half-baked” and said Brown’s record does not support his words.

“Over the last 40 years, Brown has waged a war on jobs that’s included more spending, more taxes and more regulations,” said Andrea Jones Rivera. “The facts are not on his side.”‬ ‬

seema.mehta@latimes.com