WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 3, 2012) Following the presidential debate last night during which Governor Mitt Romney criticized the green investments of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the BlueGreen Alliance’s Executive Director David Foster issued the following statement:

“I’m disappointed that Governor Romney politicized efforts to build a strong, green economy in the U.S. during the debate. In fact, the $90 billion of green investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were very successful, creating or sustaining at least one million jobs. Equally important, these programs leveraged private investment at the rate of $3 of private capital for every $1 dollar of government support.

“These investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, transportation infrastructure, electrical transmission, and rebuilding American manufacturing have paid important dividends over the last several years. They represented a significant down payment on America’s future competitiveness.

“Among other notable ‘green investments’ were those that led to a resurgence of the domestic auto industry which restored another 1 million jobs. Our auto industry is now thriving and building the fuel-efficient vehicles the world needs. By 2030, the new auto standards for light-duty vehicles finalized this year will create an additional 570,000 jobs, with 50,000 of them in vehicle manufacturing and assembly.

“Becoming more efficient, moving to clean energy, and reducing pollution and energy waste are all driving job creation and security today and will continue to do so well into the future. We would encourage Governor Romney to look at the facts and endorse these proven job creation strategies.”