After being criticized for plans to pay out billions of dollars in bonuses this year, Goldman Sachs has offered an apology for the mistakes it made that led to the financial crisis.

The bank also announced Tuesday that it will spend $500 million to help thousands of small businesses dig their way out of the recession.

“We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret,” Goldman’s chairman and chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein said. “We apologize.”

Elizabeth Warren, who heads up the congressional panel overseeing how the bailout money is being spent, has been vocal in her criticism of big bonuses, especially in a time of high unemployment.

Warren, in an interview with NOW last week, said companies such as Goldman take “taxpayer money and then, while people are unemployed, lard [themselves] with pay.”

President Barack Obama turned his attention to unemployment this week, holding a forum with business leaders at the White House to discuss how to create more jobs.

But one source of job growth the president was hoping for -- creation of new jobs in green industries -- has proved elusive. For myriad reasons, including the outsourcing of such jobs to China, growth in clean energy industries and in green jobs has been slower than expected.

To get a better understanding of the future of such jobs, David Brancaccio spoke to Van Jones, who at that time was a special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation at the White House. Jones has since stepped down from his position amidst controversy over some of his past statements.

Jones told NOW how green collar jobs could save the country money and offer more jobs in the future.

We've researched the five most popular online videos from NOW on PBS, and are proud to share them with you:

1. Food Inc.
Behind the food we love—Secrets that giant food companies don't want you to know.