Biden takes stage to tout green economy

Vice President Joe Biden was back in Denver Tuesday touting the middle class and the rise of “green collar” jobs for Americans hit hardest by the economic recession.

Standing on a stage at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science alongside a slew of administration Cabinet members, Biden used the 90-minute, town-hall-style meeting to promote the latest development in the president’s economic stimulus package.

In addressing the group of 200 or so Coloradans, which included many Democratic bigwigs, Biden talked up the package’s impact on the new energy sector and reiterated the pledge that the legislation will create 450,000 new jobs for the middle class.

Biden, joined by Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, also announced a plan to dedicate nearly $4 billion of Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan to make housing more energy efficient and to devote another $500 million to green-collar job-training grants.