The G-20 summit in Pittsburgh that concluded Friday drew attention to the world's most important challenges, including the global crisis of climate change. As Pennsylvania-based manufacturing companies, we are helping to address climate change through innovation in renewable energy technologies. These are businesses that are important for our economy and the environment.

The United States must stay competitive in the renewable energy industry. Unfortunately, when comparing America's renewable energy future with those of other G-20 nations that gathered in Pittsburgh, the gap couldn't be wider.

Our companies, Gamesa USA and PPG Industries Inc., may have different industrial backgrounds, but today the wind literally generates much of our business. As a turbine manufacturer and supplier, we represent the U.S. wind energy business.

Until very recently, wind energy was one of the hottest parts of the American economy. Wind turbine installations doubled in 2008, reaching a record 8,400 megawatts. That major contribution equals enough electricity to power 2 million homes, and it accounted for 42 percent of all new U.S. energy-generating capacity last year. The wind energy industry now employs 85,000 Americans -- more than the coal industry, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

With wind energy, our businesses have grown. The more Gamesa wind turbines that are installed -- like the dozens outside Johnstown -- the more turbine parts like PPG fiberglass and coatings are in demand and the more jobs we are able to sustain.

In 2009, ironically after its best year ever, the U.S. wind industry hangs perilously in the balance. Industry experts are projecting a 40 percent drop in new wind installations, with scant new projects in development. The severe global recession has crippled demand in the wind energy industry, and as we look ahead to 2010 and beyond, we predict drastically reduced demand compared with levels over the past few years. With no turbine parts to deliver, many of the jobs our industry has created will be lost. This slowdown is bad for our climate, bad for our companies and bad for the communities in which we operate.

This looming collapse comes at a time when we can scarcely afford it. With clean energy set to be one of the key industries of the 21st century, there is a global race to own it -- and the jobs it creates. Both the European Union and China have set ambitious goals for wind power production in the coming decades. Right now, America is stumbling, set to come in third behind China and the European Union, with 75 percent of the wind industry outside our country's borders.

The answer must be a new nationwide policy that puts America back in the lead and allows clean energy jobs and companies to continue their growth. U.S. leaders must move quickly on a strong, national near-term Renewable Electricity Standard. Such a standard would require power companies to get a percentage of their energy from renewable sources like wind. This would go a long way to protect and create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and increase America's competitiveness in the near term. An analysis by the Blue-Green Alliance found with a 25 percent standard, about 850,000 jobs would be created by 2025.

Pennsylvania's economy, in particular, stands to benefit. An analysis by the Pew Center on the States showed that as of 2007, Pennsylvania had 2,934 clean energy businesses and 38,763 clean energy jobs. Gamesa, a subject of the report, has created 850 jobs in just a few short years, investing more than $200 million in our commonwealth. In addition, Pennsylvania ranks seventh in the nation for potential job creation in renewable energy manufacturing. In the wind industry, Pennsylvania already has 1,000 companies, like Gamesa and PPG, which could expand their manufacture of wind turbine components.

A renewable electricity standard is especially important for businesses like ours. Both turbine and fiberglass manufacturing require major capital investments. A strong standard is the only way to create the stable domestic renewable energy market, long-term commitment and predictability that are required to spend millions of dollars on expanding operations.

With the right policy, our businesses and hundreds of others could protect and create thousands of jobs in an industry that improves our national security, protects the environment and brings America's economy back to the forefront of innovation. Let's make that a development priority for our nation.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.