Orange County Register

A staged photo-op at the White House this afternoon to tout successful green energy companies took a somber turn in the face of the  June unemployment numbers released today.

The unemployment rate hit a 26-year high after 467,000 jobs were lost in June. Joined by a group of CEOs – including two from California companies Hara and Applied Materials – President Barack Obama tried to strike an upbeat tone by highlighting green energy as a pillar for future economic growth.

“I’m pleased to say that we’ve achieved more in the last few months to create a new clean energy economy than we had achieved in many decades before,” he said.

Investment in energy and green collar jobs is supposed to play an important role in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Orange County was recently awarded an infusion of cash for green job training. The county is going to receive $937,890 in Recovery Act funds for the Green Corps, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced earlier this week.

The Green Corps is aimed at training at-risk youth for green energy jobs. Orange County is one of 11 grant recipients for the California program.

“President Obama and I share similar priorities right now when it comes to helping the economy rebound and creating a greener California and America,” Schwarzenegger said in a press release in March when he announced the creation of the program.

There are several other Recovery Act-funded energy projects underway in Orange County, including energy and efficiency block grant programs aimed at cutting down energy use in the county.

A map of current Recovery Act projects in California can be found here.

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