Secretary Steven Chu helps create a few thousands jobs

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and the Obama Administration made history today, offering the first loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, a loan guarantee that will help Solyndra, a solar energy company, build a new factory to produce solar panels. Not only will those panels reduce our dependence on dirty sources of energy like coal and oil, building and installing them will create thousands of jobs in California and across the country:

From Solyndra's estimates:

* The construction of this complex will employ approximately 3,000 people.

* The operation of the facility will create over 1,000 jobs in the United States.

* The installation of these panels will create hundreds of additional jobs in the United States.

* The commercialization of this technology is expected to then be duplicated in multiple other manufacturing facilities.

This is what we've been talking about. This is how investing in clean energy and reducing global warming pollution can help kick-start our economy. This is a great start.

Read the Department of Energy release here.