CA Shows Putting Earth First Leads To Green Jobs

One of the fearmongering tactics that oil companies have used in the past about relying on alternative energy "too quickly" is that many people would be out of work. Well when you shut down a refinery there are job losses, but so many opportunities can come from it when you add in clean energy sources, conservation and recycling. California has proven that over the last thirty years since they instituted energy-efficient guidelines, much to the dismay of the fossil fuel industry.

From The NY Times:

OAKLAND, Calif. — California’s energy-efficiency policies created nearly 1.5 million jobs from 1977 to 2007, while eliminating fewer than 25,000, according to a study to be released Monday.

The study, conducted by David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley, found that while the state’s policies lowered employee compensation in the electric power industry by an estimated $1.6 billion over that period, it improved compensation in the state over all by $44.6 billion.

Built into that figure were increases of $1.2 billion in the light industrial sector, $11.2 billion in wholesale and retail trade, $7.3 billion in the financial and insurance sectors and $17.8 billion in the service sector.

“Consumers were able to reduce energy spending,” the study said, adding that “these savings were diverted to other demand.”

Imagine that! If we didn't shove piles of money into Big Oil's hands we'd have more to spend on the larger economy. Well it doesn't take an economist to figure that out, but showing us just how much of an impact environmental regulation can have is truly impressive. Van Jones isn't kidding when he talks about the Green-Collared Economy. Not only can we help save our planet, but we can slowly reshape our petro-based world into an eco-friendly globe.

GM Gives A Taste Of Green Jobs In America

For far too long our automotive industry has been woefully behind the rest of the world when it comes to innovation and ways of dealing with climate change. It isn't that we aren't capable of it but more aptly that no one has stepped up to fund the large-scale projects that will propel us into the 21st century, whether that be private industry or the government. Finally, the old stalwart GM is starting to see the error of their ways and is not only talking about alternative energy but building the facilities right here at home to make it happen.

From CBS News:

(AP) General Motors Corp. said Thursday it will build a new factory in Flint to make four-cylinder engines for the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car and other models.

GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the new plant will build a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine that will extend the range of the Volt, and a turbocharged version that will power the Chevrolet Cruze, a new compact car to be built in Lordstown, Ohio.

"This will be one of the places. You will be one of the teams that help GM lead into our second century," Wagoner told workers and government officials gathered for the announcement.

Production at the new $370 million plant will begin in 2010, and both cars are slated to go on sale in the same year.

This is excellent news out of Michigan. For far too long we have lost jobs in this area and across the country because our leadership has failed to foster an environment that creates 21st century jobs. We cannot merely subsist on a retail economy by itself. America was made great by manufacturing and now it is being torn apart by greedy financiers that hedge their bets on housing market bubbles that were bound to burst, made worse only because the government is deliberating on how much of the taxpayer's money should pay for Wall Street's losses.

Last night before the debate a few friends of mine were talking about the economy and what to do with money put away in bonds and mutual funds. My answer for them is the same I tell everyone who is looking for solid investments with a long-term gain. Go green! Put your money in companies that are building wind and solar plants. Rechargeable cars, geo-thermal energy, anything that helps reduce our carbon pollution is a win.

The value of this budding industry is nothing compared to what it will be once we force ourselves off of oil, both foreign and domestic. Fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil and Shell are blocking green efforts today, but slowly we are turning the tide. Down the road (no pun intended) we will be driving zero-emission vehicles and powering our houses without a coal power plant at the beginning of the transmission line. Getting in on this today is a smart move, for one's savings and the planet as a whole.

Blue, White And Now Green Collared Jobs

Forget about the class differences in the old blue and white colors. Today we must focus on green collared jobs, work that not only benefits the employee and company, but the environment we depend on as well.

Moving Energy Subsidies From Fossil Fuels To Renewables Could Quadruple Jobs

Right now billions in subsides are given to the oil companies from politicians who receive their campaign donations. Yet with a little long range planning, that money could be reinvested into clean energy and quadruple the jobs provided by the current pollution-driven scenario. Nothing good comes from oil, except for the continuation of our petro-economy that is slowly killing our environment and by extension, all of humanity and the biosphere too. So imagine, if you will, the possibilities of a green economy, full of green jobs.

From The NY Times:

Investing in clean energy could create four times as many jobs as investing in the oil industry, according to a report issued on Tuesday by the Sierra Club, United Steelworkers, the Blue Green Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council and Audubon New York. And clean energy investment would result in about three times the number of good-paying jobs, those that pay at least $16 an hour, according to the report, which was written by the Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute.

Clean energy, to help deter the effects of global warming, could help reduce New Yorkers’ fears of rising temperatures and receding shorelines. The report encourages investment in six areas: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems, wind power, solar power and next-generation biofuels.

Such jobs are based on the proposed investment of $100 billion over two years, through a cap-and-trade program like those sponsored last year in Congress that would “drive private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon permit auctions.” And spending $26 billion on retrofitting, for example, could save $5 billion in energy costs a year, for a net savings after five years or so, according to the report.

Of course not all jobs include going out to remote locations and building giant wind farms. A large part of this budding industry can be found close to home, whether it is by installing small wind generators or simply making current buildings more energy-efficient. Changing the way we live in deference to the future of the planet may sound hard because of the massive scale of our economy. However, there is no better option and honestly, if it pays well to help save the world job by job then that just sweetens the pot.