Showing posts with label stimulus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stimulus. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Conservative Confusion about the Role of Government in Support of Green Jobs

According to traditional conservative doctrine, governments do not create jobs only free markets can do that. However, economists around the world contradict that facile and dated logic. Investment in green job creation is a short term strategy that helps green industries to grow. Helping green industries to achieve economies of scale reduces costs, enhances competitiveness and provides jobs. Government investments also drive innovation.

The jobs creation potential of the green economy is unparallelled and governments all around the world see the wisdom of helping to grow their tax base by supporting green industry. Green-collar jobs are high paying positions that benefit the environment while cutting pollution and reducing waste.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Video: The UK's Green Deal



A short film explaining the importance of the UK's Green Deal. This innovative program from will help homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. The Green Deal will radically reduce their home heating bills while substantially reducing the UK's emissions profile. It will also create jobs and regenerate the national economy.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

UK Government Investments in Efficiency and Renewable Energy

The UK government is making massive investments in the green economy. Firms in the UK cleantech sector are benefiting tremendously from the government's investments in areas like efficiency and renewable energy.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Green Energy Beats Tax Cuts in Ontario Provincial Election

Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservative party bet that people in Ontario would want out of the Liberal's Green Energy Act. His confidence appears to have been misguided. The Liberal victory fell just shy of the 54 seats they needed for a majority. Final seat counts put the Liberals at 53 and the Tories at 37, with the New Democrats at 17. The Liberals won about 37 per cent of the popular vote, just ahead of the Tories at 35. The NDP was at 23 per cent. However, just 47.6 per cent of eligible voters turned out, down from 52.1 per cent who voted in 2007.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Ontario Votes as the Green Energy Act Benefits Schools and the Province

As people in Ontario vote in provincial elections, the top two contenders are in a tight race. The governing Liberals under Premier Dalton McGuinty will need to lose 17 or more seats in order to lose their majority.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Investing in Education is the Key to Developing the Green Economy

In President Obama's State of the Union Address, he spoke about how America can win the future by out-educating, out-innovating and out-building the rest of the world. The challenge of building the green economy is dependent on well educated students and this depends on government investment.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Obama's National Goal of One Million EVs by 2015

In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama put forward his goal of putting one million EVs on American roads by 2015. This will help in the transition away from fossil fuel powered vehicles which are the second largest source of global warming causing pollutants. Although a far cry from the national green initiative that Obama has compared to the Apollo program, it is an important first step on the road away from fossil fuels.

Unlike the Apollo program, we already possess the technology and one million EVs is a modest goal given that this represents one third of one percent of the quarter of a billion vehicles in the US. One million electric cars represent less than 10 percent of the current annual automotive sales.

One of the challenges associated with goal of one million EVs was exposed in a February 2011 report out of Indiana University, titled “Plug-in Electric Vehicles: A Practical Plan for Progress.” (pdf). The study indicates that automakers currently have no plans to meet the President's 2015 goal.

This contridicts a Department of Energy report that said: "The production capacity of EV models announced to enter the U.S. market through 2015 should be sufficient to achieve the goal of one million EVs by 2015." The report also notes that 1.6 million hybrids have been sold over the past six years.

Obama's goal is of crucial importance because it will help to grow EV production as well as test the technologies and the supporting infrastructures. It will also help EVs benefit from cost and price reductions associated with mass production.

Moving towards EVs is of paramount importance to the environment and America's competitive positioning. Unlike the Apollo program, the government's support of EVs provides tangible benefits like reducing dependence on foreign oil and curbing greenhouse gases. All things considered, one million EVs by 2015 is a modest and attainable goal. Whether or not we have one million EVs on the road in the US by 2015 does not matter as much as the building momentum for an America free of fossil fuel powered vehicles.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Monday, January 31, 2011

Green Jobs for America

Green Jobs for America is a national campaign to educate the public about the need for (government) investments in green jobs. This national educational initiative is led by Blue Green Alliance, United Steelworkers, Sierra Club and NRDC and other partners.

The realization that green jobs have a vital role to play in America's employment picture is nothing new. A 2008 report indicated that green jobs fight global warming and help put an end to America's dependence on fossil fuels.

The green jobs report was created by the University of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute, it is titled, Job Opportunities for the Green Economy: A State-by-State Picture of Occupations that Gain from Green Investments. Read the full report (pdf)

The report examined 12 states and the people employed in occupations affected by six green economic strategies: building retrofitting, mass transit, energy-efficient automobiles, wind power, solar power and cellulosic biofuels. It also looked at what the average wages are in each state for these jobs.

The report indicates that millions of US workers, across a wide range of occupations, states, and income and skill levels, will benefit from efforts to transform the United States into a green economy. Read the national report and press release.

The Green Jobs for America campaign is at work in twelve states: Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
It is clear to all but the willfully ignorant, that millions of US workers will all benefit from transforming the United States into a green economy.

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Friday, January 28, 2011

Hot Green Jobs for 2011 and Beyond

Here is a review of some of the sectors and careers that will benefit from green jobs investments. According to a UNEP report, this includes, renewable energy, construction, transportation, food, agriculture, commodities, and forestry.

President Obama made his commitment to green jobs clear in his State of the Union Address. The US Department of Labor is working with the community, labor and industry to support green job growth.

Here are some of the areas where green careers are most in demand for 2011 and beyond:

Sustainable business management, recycling, solar energy, wind energy, smart grid, energy efficiency, retrofitting, green building, sustainable farming, sustainable forestry, conservation biology, bio-mimicry, green chemistry, public transportation, waste management, urban planning and sustainable systems development.

Many of these positions require special training. A large number of colleges and technical institutes offer complete career training. See The Green Market's Searchable Environmental Education Resources for a wide range of sustainable and green education options in the US and around the world. One of the best degrees with the widest applicability is a Green MBA.

Preparing for a job in these high growth fields increases employment, grows the economy and contributes to a healthier planet.


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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Government Investment Green Jobs and Economic Recovery

Green jobs can fuel economic recovery. This is the logic behind President Obama's pledge to invest $150 billion to create 5 million green jobs in the US over the next 10 years.

The convergence of automation and globalization have permanently eliminated millions of jobs. High rates of unemployment are a function of a changing global economy.The green economy can create jobs and fuel the ongoing recovery.

Research from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has indicated that transitioning to a sustainable, low-carbon economy can create millions of green jobs. The US Department of Labor has projected significant growth in green jobs between 2008-2018.

If these predictions are to materialize, governments will have to invest. This means governments will have to set and meet ambitious goals that will help to accelerate the growth of the green economy. President Obama made clear his commitment in his 2011 State of the Union address when he announced his desire to see America pursue clean energy, electric vehicles and an end to oil subsidies.


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Highlights of Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address: Clean Energy, Electric Cars and Eliminating Oil Subsidies
Video: Green Jobs
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Oakland's Green Jobs and Energy Initiatives
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Green Government Investments and Job Creation

The jobs creation potential of the green economy is staggering. In the US, President Obama has pledged $150 billion over 10 tears to create five million green-collar jobs.

Green-collar jobs are well paying positions that benefit the environment while cutting pollution and reducing waste.

According to Shari Shapiro, associate with Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP, the numbers show that green stimulus investments are among the most cost-effective ways to spend the Recovery Act dollars and create jobs.

Green industries include everything from renewable energy to electronics manufacturing.
We are entering an era of unprecedented growth in the green market, and this growth will supply millions of jobs. The emergence of green industries will also have a ripple effect that will create countless employment opportunities. These include teaching positions required to train people for their new roles in the emerging green economy.

Governments around the world are seeing green investments as a way of putting people to work and preparing for the future. At present, America is being outspent by many of the world's major powers. However, the green investments that President Obama outlined in his 2011 State of the Union Address would drive job creation.

Government investment in green job creation is a winning strategy. As government investment helps green industries to grow they would benefit from economies of scale and this would bring down costs. Greater competition would also drive innovation.


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Video: Green Jobs
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Oakland's Green Jobs and Energy Initiatives
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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Tea Party's Climate Change Denial

Tea Party supporters deny the existence of climate change and oppose any attempt to regulate emissions. Despite their distrust of science and resistance to civil debate, the Tea Party's crusade is gaining momentum. Republican organizers are hoping to channel Tea Party anger into electing a conservative Congress in 2010 and a conservative president in 2012. The Tea Party movement began about a year ago as a protest against government bailouts and health care legislation. Starting last Thursday and culminating this weekend, the first national Tea Party convention was fittingly held at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. Tea Party conservatives resent the Democrats stimulus spending even though it staved off economic collapse and helped to pull the world out of recession. Tea Party attendees tend to frame issues in terms of the choice between free markets and Marxist-Socialism. Many argue that conservative policies are counter indicated by current realities. The climate crisis, recession, and geopolitical situation require bold leadership not laissez faire capitalism. Unlike last year's Tea Parties this years inaugural National Tea Party Convention had no posters comparing Obama to Hitler or Stalin. However, the punch lines were toned down variations of the same old propaganda. On Friday, Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Website WorldNetDaily, opened his speech at the Tea Party convention with jokes about the President's citizenship and was met with a thunderous ovation of approval. Tea Party supporters proudly proclaimed their support for Tom Tancredo who blamed illiterate voters for putting a "committed Socialist ideologue" in the White House. Former congressman Tom Tancredo stirred up controversy with his opening night speech Thursday. He called for making literacy tests a prerequisite for voting, like the banned Jim Crow laws that prevented many blacks from voting prior to the introduction of civil rights legislation. Tea party convention organizer Judson Phillips called Tancredo’s speech “fantastic.” A Tea Party supporter recounted organizing a bowling party which he called "Knock Down the Pinheads of Communism." A strike equaled Mao, a spare, Pol Pot. The Tea Party Convention speakers included Judge Roy Moore, the judge who fought to keep a monument of the Ten Commandments outside his courthouse and is now running for Alabama governor. President Obama "has ignored our history and our heritage by denying we are a Christian nation," Moore said. As reported in Politics Daily, Tea Party supporter and global warming skeptic Steve Milloy called modern environmentalism, "tatalitarianism." Milloy and other Tea Party failthfuls are not only critical of Democrats, they criticize Republicans who work with Democrats. South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was criticized for cooperating with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on climate change legislation; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental efforts had Milloy calling for "reverse immigration." Milloy, who runs the website junkscience.com, questioned the sanity and morality of cap and trade supporters, whom he called "bad people." Tea party supporters are trying to use social media to help promote their agenda, but unlike Obama's supporters, most supporters of the Tea Party Movement are too old to understand how to make the most of this technology. Apparently the youth are not much interested in Tea Parties. The core of Tea Party supporters are still angry old conservatives whose passion precludes the facts. They say they are angry because of the growth of the federal government and President Obama's policies. Truth is, the average age of the Tea Party supporters speaks volumes. Perhaps they are angry because they cannot keep pace with a rapidly changing world.