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A great analysis of the American Climate and Energy Security Act on Clean Edge today:
http://cleanedge.com/news/story.php?nID=6178
Last week, President-Elect Barack Obama’s said that his economic stimulus plan will create half a million new green jobs for America.
“We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy – by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes,” the president elect said. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced.”
The number of unemployed individuals in the United States rose by 632,000 to hit 11.1 million in December, according to the Department of Labor. The U.S. economy shed 1.9 million jobs in the last four months of 2008 alone. But rather than dwell on this dire economic data a number of states are taking a proactive approach to stimulating economic growth by creating new green jobs. Read More »
I sent the following letter to the NY Times, the Daily News, the NY Post etc. today:
In the current financial meltdown it may be tempting to put plans for a clean, green energy solution on the shelf - to say, "We'll get to that later when the recession is over." Here's why that is the wrong point of view not only environmentally, but economically as well.
The fact is, a transition to a domestic source of energy - as opposed to importing 70% of our oil - would be a great way to create new jobs in an economy that is sure to see less of them in the near term. I don't know if we will get to five million jobs as Obama and Gore have promissed, but we can certainly create hundreds of thousands over the first year of the next administration. Just as importantly, these will be solid, middle-class, American jobs that can’t be outsourced and use the skills of today’s workers. Green jobs aren’t just the jobs of the future â€" they are the jobs of today. Wealth is created from labor, not from complicated ways of moving money about. After the financial meltdown that eliminated the entire recent bull market, what have we got to show for it? Nothing. Now, imagine if we had put that money into our wind and solar corridors, each of which could be enough to wean us off imported oil, together with a plan to use domestic compressed natural gas to power our cars, as well as electricity, hydrogen, and hybrids.
We should also not underestimate the positive effects of clean energy independence on our relations with those who supply us with oil from the middle east, as well as from Venezuela and Africa. All of these regions suffer from the oil curse, in which resources have become far more important than people. Those countries need to be forced to work for a living, not just live off the good fortune which lies underground. They need to focus on educating and employing their own people, so those people do not become frustrated and act out as terrorists against America. Already, we hear less from Iran, Venezuela, and even Russia, as their resource dependent economies start to collapse due to low oil prices. We need to keep that pressure on them by keeping oil prices permanently low. Being energy independent is the best way to do that.
Finally, the frustration people have with Washington - as shown by the abysmal ratings for both the president and congress - is largely due to the lack of leadership there. There was a time when America rose to the challenge of putting a man on the moon. There was a time even earlier when America willingly made sacrifices to fight a World War; now we are told to "go shopping." We need to not only empower America with electricity from new domestic sources, but to find a way to electrify America. We need not to go to the Saudis with oil can in hand, begging for a refill, but to lead. We need to rediscover our strength by putting our efforts towards a task worthy of our great nation. We can have clean, green energy in ten years if we have the leadership to push for it.
In the current financial meltdown it may be tempting to put plans for a clean, green energy solution on the shelf - to say, "We'll get to that later when the recession is over." Here's why that is the wrong point of view not only environmentally, but economically as well.
The fact is, a transition to a domestic source of energy - as opposed to importing 70% of our oil - would be a great way to create new jobs in an economy that is sure to see less of them in the near term. I don't know if we will get to five million jobs as Obama and Gore have promissed, but we can certainly create hundreds of thousands over the first year of the next administration. Just as importantly, these will be solid, middle-class, American jobs that can’t be outsourced and use the skills of today’s workers. Green jobs aren’t just the jobs of the future â€" they are the jobs of today. Wealth is created from labor, not from complicated ways of moving money about. After the financial meltdown that eliminated the entire recent bull market, what have we got to show for it? Nothing. Now, imagine if we had put that money into our wind and solar corridors, each of which could be enough to wean us off imported oil, together with a plan to use domestic compressed natural gas to power our cars, as well as electricity, hydrogen, and hybrids.
We should also not underestimate the positive effects of clean energy independence on our relations with those who supply us with oil from the middle east, as well as from Venezuela and Africa. All of these regions suffer from the oil curse, in which resources have become far more important than people. Those countries need to be forced to work for a living, not just live off the good fortune which lies underground. They need to focus on educating and employing their own people, so those people do not become frustrated and act out as terrorists against America. Already, we hear less from Iran, Venezuela, and even Russia, as their resource dependent economies start to collapse due to low oil prices. We need to keep that pressure on them by keeping oil prices permanently low. Being energy independent is the best way to do that.
Finally, the frustration people have with Washington - as shown by the abysmal ratings for both the president and congress - is largely due to the lack of leadership there. There was a time when America rose to the challenge of putting a man on the moon. There was a time even earlier when America willingly made sacrifices to fight a World War; now we are told to "go shopping." We need to not only empower America with electricity from new domestic sources, but to find a way to electrify America. We need not to go to the Saudis with oil can in hand, begging for a refill, but to lead. We need to rediscover our strength by putting our efforts towards a task worthy of our great nation. We can have clean, green energy in ten years if we have the leadership to push for it.
I saw the following article here.
by Heather Boerner, for Yahoo! HotJobs
White-hot jobs are opening up in the power sector.
"These aren't just hot jobs, they're sizzling jobs," said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association. Wind energy grew by 45 percent last year. "We need every type of job candidate." Read More »
by Heather Boerner, for Yahoo! HotJobs
White-hot jobs are opening up in the power sector.
"These aren't just hot jobs, they're sizzling jobs," said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association. Wind energy grew by 45 percent last year. "We need every type of job candidate." Read More »
I just watched this great video in which activists helped a business improve its revenue while becoming more energy efficient. You can watch the video here, and I highly recommend you do. The group is called Carrotmob ("carrot," as in using carrots and not sticks). They're also hiring and looking for volutneers. Read More »
I realize there's not a lot happening on the Green Jobs and Green Volunteers groups. I would encourage you to be patient with these groups. Their success and usefulness depend on a large membership, which we have yet to achieve. Hopefully, that will change with time. The We community in general is just getting started and still growing.
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