What Does The Fox News Channel Have Against Green Jobs?
This week, the Apollo Alliance and our allies had a run-in with Fox News talk-show host Glenn Beck. Read more
Green Justice Breakthrough In Massachusetts
Boston Apollo Alliance Wins Victory for Social Justice and the Environment
State’s Utilities to Add Equity to Efficiency Plans
Contact: Jeremy Shenk 617-723-2639, jeremy(at)massclu.org
The Massachusetts Green Justice Coalition, an affiliate of the national Apollo Alliance, won a victory for social justice and the environment yesterday when the state Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC) told the state’s utilities to add equity to their efficiency plans.
The EEAC must approve the utilities’ programs, which collect $210 million annually from Massachusetts ratepayers for building energy efficiency. The Green Justice Coalition – 40 community, labor, environmental, and faith organizations statewide – brought 125 members to the July 14 EEAC meeting and urged the Council to insist upon:
- Up-front financing for home energy retrofits, which will allow low and moderate income ratepayers to get deep savings on their energy bills.
- Community-driven outreach and mobilization, which will reach economically marginalized neighborhoods where utility marketing is ineffective.
- High-road jobs for community residents in energy efficiency retrofit work, providing family supporting wages and benefits, strong health and safety measures, and a path to unionization.
- A voice in the process for marginalized communities.
On July 28, the EEAC passed a resolution that partially approved the utilities’ proposals but required them to add:
- Up-front financing, probably including on-bill cost recovery (you make the repairs now and pay them off over time on your utility bill).
- Community mobilization as an outreach strategy.
- High job standards and responsible contractor provisions.
All these will actually have to be implemented. In addition, said CLU co-director Darlene Lombos, “We still need to win a voice in the process. We also need “bundling” – organizing entire blocks and neighborhoods into “green zones,” which will allow high-road contractors to bid on the work and create good jobs. The Green Justice Coalition will continue to bring proposals from its low-income constituencies into the EEAC’s deliberations and, we hope, the utilities’ final plans.”
Fully implementing the Green Justice Coalition’s proposals will help the utilities achieve 3% energy savings every year. While the state needs to reach this level of energy conservation, the utilities’ current programs save less than 1% a year. The proposals they have so far submitted to the state will save only 2% a year. The Green Justice proposals combine energy efficiency with racial, economic, and environmental justice – thus, “Green Justice.”
For an issue brief on the utilities’ proposals, a community survey documenting their shortcomings, and an extensive Green Justice agenda, see www.massclu.org.
Solar Energy Prospects Look Bright in Gainesville
At the start of the 20th century, the city of Gainesville, Fla., installed modern municipal water, electricity and sewer systems, which made it an attractive location for the University of Florida and helped it become a major educational and cultural hub in the state. Now, more than 100 years later, Gainesville is once again taking bold steps, this time to become a clean energy pioneer in the United States. Read more
40-Year Anniversary of Apollo Moon Landing Provokes Calls for a New Clean Energy Apollo Program
This Monday marked the 40-year anniversary of the historic Apollo moon landing. The Apollo Alliance celebrated President Kennedy’s ambitious and successful space program by calling for a new Apollo mission of similar potential and scale. After all, the Apollo Alliance took its name from the original Apollo program, because we believe that the United States should embark on a 21st century Apollo program that applies our country’s technological know-how and can-do spirit to the realization of a clean energy revolution.
Apollo Alliance Chairman Phil Angelides wrote about the Apollo anniversary in the Huffington Post:
“Today’s efforts to transform the way we power the nation rival the challenge and potential of the 1960s space race. With our economy in tatters, millions of citizens out of work, and a rapidly warming planet, it’s time for Americans of all walks of life to unite around clean energy solutions that will create a new generation of good jobs and end our reliance on foreign energy sources once and for all. …
Four decades ago, America’s manufacturers, inventors, investors, scientists and entrepreneurs rose to President Kennedy’s challenge and ushered in a prolonged era of U.S.-led scientific innovation. By blazing the path to a clean energy economy, we can reclaim our position as a global scientific leader, save our fragile planet, and put millions of our citizens back to work in the clean energy jobs of the future.”
Phil was in good company. Representatives Ed Markey and Henry Waxman, the authors of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, each posted online articles on Monday calling for a clean energy Apollo mission to fight global warming and achieve energy independence.
As we remember the awesome advancements that culminated in the moon landing, let’s let it inspire us to keep working harder than ever for a clean energy future that, as Representative Markey put it, “will preserve our planet and grow our economy for generations to come.”
The Clean Energy Apollo Revolution is Already In Progress, Say Three State Governors.
This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee continued its hearings on a clean energy and climate bill. On Tuesday, Governors Bill Ritter of Colorado, Jon Corzine of New Jersey and Christine Gregoire of Washington testified before the Committee about how their states’ clean energy and climate change policies are spurring green job creation.
Gov. Ritter said that Colorado’s new energy economy is creating jobs, attracting businesses, and helping lead America toward a more secure energy future. He pointed to one company as an example of the job creation potential of the new energy economy. Vestas, one of the world’s largest wind turbine producers, built a wind tower manufacturing plant in Pueblo and a wind blade manufacturing facility in Windsor. It also plans to build two other manufacturing plants in Colorado, employing a total of 2,500 people. Ritter said that the state’s clean energy and climate change policies have attracted businesses like Vestas. Colorado has a renewable energy standard that will require 20 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. The state’s climate action plan calls for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.
In Washington, Teanaway Solar Reserve recently announced plans to build the largest solar panel energy generation plant in the U.S. in a former coal town called Cle Elum. In her testimony, Gov. Gregoire ticked off a list of clean energy companies that have made their homes in Washington – McKinstry in Seattle, leading the way in green building construction; Inland Empire Oilseeds in Odessa, with a multi-million dollar biofuel plant; and Blue Marble Energy and Bionavitas, both of which are working to turn algae into fuel. She said, “Our energy strategy is a job creation strategy. In 2007, when we adopted a set of climate change goals related to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and reduced fuel use, we also set a goal to triple the number of green jobs we had in the state – to reach 25,000 jobs by 2020. Less than two years later, we can point to 47,000 green jobs right now.” Gregoire emphasized that her state is committed not just to creating green jobs, but to ensuring they are high-quality, living-wage jobs.
Gov. Corzine also credited his state’s climate and energy policies with creating the demand for a wide array of green jobs in his state. New Jersey has an aggressive renewable energy standard and is part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first carbon cap and trade program ever implemented in the United States. Thanks to its progressive energy policies, New Jersey trails only California in solar energy installations and is set to build the first offshore windmills off the Atlantic Coast.
“There’s great potential here,” said Corzine. “But to realize all of this potential, we need national leadership to dedicate the resources necessary to provide the United States and the world with the silver bullets necessary to fully meet the challenges we presently face.”
Other Apollo News.
*The Apollo Alliance joined the Breakthrough Institute and more than 100 other organizations, universities, professional associations and student groups in submitting a letter this week, urging the Senate to fully support the Obama administration’s “RE-ENERGYSE” initiative. RE-ENERGYSE, which stands for Regaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge, would produce thousands of highly skilled U.S. energy workers and develop a new energy education program at American universities and K-12 schools.
*Apollo Alliance Board Chair Phil Angelides was appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to serve as the Chair of the newly created Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Congratulations to Phil! We know he has the experience, knowledge, and energy to lead this critical non-partisan effort to ascertain the facts about what led to our nation’s current financial crisis.
Keith Schneider, Apollo’s former senior writer and website publisher, has moved on to become the communications director of U.S. Climate Action Network. Congratulations and good luck to Keith! The new author of your weekly updates is Andrea Buffa, who joined Apollo Alliance on July 20 as a senior writer and policy associate. Andrea was previously working at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, writing reports and educating labor unions about how climate change policies impact jobs. Before that, she worked at the human rights and environmental nonprofit Global Exchange. If you have any feedback for Andrea about what you like to read about in the weekly updates, send her an email at buffa@apolloalliance.org.
You can keep track of the quickening pace of state and federal action on clean energy policy on our Apollo Blog and Daily Digest.
And how about joining us on Twitter?
Green Jobs Resources
Though much of Apollo’s work is focused on systemic changes in clean energy and green-collar job policy and practices, our work also is particularly useful to people who don’t have a job or are looking for a new one. The following green-collar job information resources should help.
Recovery Act Information Center
First is our own Recovery Act Information Center, which provides up to date information on how and where federal investments in clean energy and green-collar job training from the $787 billion stimulus bill is and will be spent. The important section for job seekers is Federal Guidance and Implementation Resources, which provides a state-by-state breakdown of clean energy investment. Other features in that section provide guidance on how cities are using Recovery Act dollars for clean energy programs and projects. Much of the Recovery Act spending will be decided by and funded through states and municipalities. The jobs developed with Recovery Act clean energy investments are and will generally be associated with existing state and local clean energy programs, and with contractors and private companies executing the energy efficiency upgrades, transit modernization, fix-it-first road and bridge construction, and the jobs to support these and other activities. You should also note that local one-stop career centers also are a good resource for find jobs generated by the Recovery Act.
Green Jobs Boards
A host of online job board resources are available for green-collar job seekers. They include the Green-Collar Blog, which hosts a jobs board with a strong list of online sites to locate and apply for jobs. Other green-collar job seeking resources include Green Dream Jobs, GreenBiz.com, EcoJobs, and EnvironmentalCareer.com., Sustain Lane’s Green-Collar Jobs Board, CareerBuilder and Renewable Energy Jobs. The solar energy industry association has a jobs board. The University of Michigan has job directory and a Directory of Green Job Training Programs that is searchable by state.
Take a look at our own Apollo Alliance jobs page for opportunities, and the jobs pages of other non-profits, community groups, businesses, and government organizations working in the clean energy space.
Volunteer Service
Opportunities are available to volunteer for a clean energy program or project through Americorps, Senior Corps, the Clean Energy Service Corps or other such program.
Online Clean Energy Information
There are dozens and dozens of online sites that cover the clean energy business and industrial sector from every conceivable perspective. Greener Design, for instance, offers news on businesses incorporating clean energy and efficiency to create sustainable products and practices and is one of the truly useful such sites. The American Wind Energy Association site is here. The Investor Network on Climate Risk, a project of CERES, is here. Businesses for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, another CERES project, has good stuff. The Iowa Energy Office site is a good example of how states are promoting clean energy investment, a valuable way to understand where job development will occur. So is the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. The Environmental Defense Fund maps green companies across the country.
Green-Collar Job Research and Reports
The Apollo Alliance defines a green-collar job as well paid, career track jobs that contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality. Like traditional blue-collar jobs, green-collar jobs range from low-skill, entry-level positions to high-skill, higher-paid jobs, and include opportunities for advancement in both skills and wages. The Green-Collar Jobs section of our Green Room provides research, reports, and articles about the range of green-collar opportunities and where they are occurring. Last year, the Apollo Alliance published a report on the development of Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities. We published Greener Pathways to detail economic and workforce development opportunities in the energy efficiency, wind, and biofuels sectors. Two years ago Apollo published Community Jobs in the Green Economy that, among other things, outlines a range of green industries that exist in the U.S., and the types and number of jobs associated with each.
The Environmental Defense Fund, one of our Apollo Alliance supporters, published a useful guide to green-collar careers and how and where they will unfold in the coming years. Jim Cassio published a Green Careers Resource Guide. TriplePundit.com posted a map of green companies. And our own Signature Stories page provides a national snapshot of the companies and existing jobs in the clean energy sector. Each story includes a ‘For More Information’ sidebar with email, telephone, and other contact details.
Green for All has a resource page for green-collar jobs.
Your Knowledge
You also can help. Tell us what you know in the comment section below. The Apollo Alliance Web site reaches tens of thousands of online visitors.
Comparison of the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act of 2009 with the New Apollo Program
The American Clean Energy And Security Act - passed on June 26, 2009 - is a giant leap forward to establish energy security, reduce harmful carbon emissions, and create millions of green jobs that will put our citizens back to work and get our economy back on track.
The ACES Act includes many elements of The New Apollo Program (NAP). Specific examples of that include:
- NAP: Reduce energy use in new and existing buildings at least 30% by 2025; ACES Act: Modifies national building codes to improve energy efficiency by 30% immediately and by 50% in 2015, with an additional 5% reduction in energy usage every three years until 2030.
- NAP: Produce 25% of the nation’s power from renewable and recycled energy resources by 2025; ACES Act: Establishes a combined Efficiency and Renewable Electricity Standard of 6% beginning 2012 and rises to 20% by 2020.
- NAP: Bring the power grid into the 21st century; ACES Act: Establishes coordinated national grid planning principles that prioritize smart grid technologies and incorporation of distributed renewable energy generation.
- NAP: Improve efficiency by 20% in existing power plants and industries by 2025; ACES Act: Establishes national strategy to support Carbon Capture and Sequestration and supports the development of standards regarding plant energy efficiency.
- NAP: Connect America’s 21st Century neighborhoods and cities with world class transit systems; ACES Act: Requires establishment of transportation-related emissions reduction goals. Requires metropolitan planning organizations to consider sustainability, livability, and emissions reductions in land use planning.
- NAP: Restore America’s manufacturing leadership to meet the demands of the clean energy future; ACES Act: Invests in U.S. manufacturing to retool plants and retrain workers to produce the systems and components of the clean energy economy
- NAP: Invest in a national low-carbon fuel infrastructure and next generation alternative fuels; ACES Act: Requires utilities to develop a plan for building infrastructure to support electric vehicles and provides for deployment of charging stations in public and private locations.
- NAP: Establish a National Energy Innovation Fund to invest in the most promising clean energy technologies; ACES Act: Utilizes one percent of emission allowances to create eight Energy Innovation Hubs to encourage and finance innovative research toward commercialization.
- NAP: Train America’s workers for the clean energy economy; ACES Act: Increases funding for the Energy Worker Training Program (created by the Green Jobs Act) to $150 million per year, and establishes a separate Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Training Fund, in which 0.75% of auction proceeds will be deposited and cannot be used for any other purpose.
- NAP: Ensure the transition to America’s clean energy economy creates widely shared economic opportunities; ACES Act: Groups of workers in identified carbon-intensive sectors, public agencies, and adversely affected services workers are eligible for benefits from the Department of Labor.
- NAP: Establish a federal ‘cap & invest’ program to generate and strategically reinvest the resources necessary to build the new clean energy economy; ACES Act: Establishes a market-based program for reducing global warming pollution from electric utilities, oil companies, large industrial and manufacturing sources, and geologic sequestration sites. Under the program, covered entities must have marketable federal permits (“allowances”) for each ton of pollution emitted into the atmosphere.
For a full comparison of The New Apollo Program to the ACES Act, click here.
As the Senate resumes work on its version of the energy bill, the Apollo Alliance will continue to press legislators on both sides of the aisle to support investments in our domestic manufacturing sector to meet the demands of the new clean energy economy.
On 40th Anniversary of Apollo Moon Landing, Apollo Alliance Renews Call for Nationwide Push Toward Clean Energy
CONTACT: Sam Haswell: (415) 371-1700 x201
SAN FRANCISCO - Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance, today called on Americans of all walks of life to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the historic Apollo space mission by uniting in a new Apollo mission, the transition to a 21st century clean energy economy:
“Forty years ago, Neil Armstrong’s short walk on the surface of the moon fulfilled President Kennedy’s bold challenge to summon the resources and technical ingenuity needed to win the space race. As we celebrate the anniversary of this historic human achievement, it’s important to remember that Kennedy’s ambition launched more than just a rocket - it heralded a new era of job creation, modern businesses, and leading-edge industries that would propel decades of American economic progress.
“Today’s efforts to transform the way we power the nation rival the challenge and potential of the 1960s space race. With our economy in tatters, millions of citizens out of work, and a rapidly warming planet, it’s time for Americans of all walks of life to unite around clean energy solutions that will create a new generation of good jobs and end our reliance on foreign energy sources once and for all.
“The strength of this country lies in the extraordinary resolve of our citizens, even in the most trying of times. Americans never shy from a challenge. That resolve is being put to the test by an extremely well-heeled carbon lobby, but we will not waver. Four decades ago, America’s manufacturers, inventors, investors, scientists and entrepreneurs rose to President Kennedy’s challenge and ushered in a prolonged era of U.S.-led scientific innovation. By blazing the path to a clean energy economy, we can reclaim our position as a global scientific leader, save our fragile planet, and put millions of our citizens back to work in the clean energy jobs of the future.”
Apollo Alliance was launched in 2003 to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America so profound that it will touch every quarter of American life. Harkening back to President Kennedy’s visionary call to restore America’s technological leadership by landing the first man on the Moon within the decade, the Apollo Alliance speaks directly to the core values we share as Americans: our can-do spirit, our inherent optimism, and our unrivaled patriotism.
Obama Administration Stumps for the Clean Energy Economy
This Tuesday, President Obama went to Warren, Mich., to introduce a new program to reform and strengthen community colleges so they can better prepare Americans for the new jobs of the 21st century.
Which jobs is he talking about?
“Now is the time to create the jobs of the future by growing industries, including a new clean energy economy,” President Obama said. “I want Michigan to build windmills and wind turbines and solar panels and biofuel plants and energy-efficient light bulbs…You need to weatherize. I know about that in Chicago too.”
Dana Sevakis, Apollo Alliance’s Michigan Coordinator, was there. She said the most inspiring moment at the event was the introduction of President Obama by Joe Lezzi, a steel worker for 20 years whose job was shipped overseas. Joe responded to the loss of his job by getting an associate’s degree at Macomb Community College. “He now has a great new job in the surrounding community. It’s not a clean energy job – he’s working at a hospital – but it’s a great success story and an example of how workers can get retrained and transition to new jobs, like those in the clean energy economy,” Dana said. For more information about the Michigan Apollo Alliance, click here.
Dana attended the Obama speech with Keith Cooley, the CEO of NextEnergy, a nonprofit that brings promising alternative and renewable energy technologies to maturity and up to scale in the marketplace. NextEnergy has been key in helping Apollo Alliance make progress toward our goal of securing 100 business endorsements for Sen. Sherrod Brown’s “Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Energy Technology Act (IMPACT) Act of 2009.”
The IMPACT Act would establish a $30 billion revolving loan fund designed to help small and medium-sized manufacturers improve their energy efficiency, retrain workers for clean energy manufacturing jobs, and retool plants in order to expand into the clean energy supply chain. Apollo estimates that the IMPACT Act will create nearly 2.5 million jobs to support new and expanded manufacturing operations across the country.
Each new endorsement builds momentum to pass this important legislation. Please help us by clicking here to add your or your company’s support.
Meanwhile, President Obama wasn’t the only member of his administration on the road promoting the green economy this week. According to Van Jones, former Apollo Alliance board member and Green For All CEO who is now special adviser for green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Obama administration officials hit Washington state, Nevada, and Minnesota this week to bring attention to clean energy projects in those states. As Van wrote in a Wednesday op-ed in the Seattle Times, “The president’s central insight is straightforward: By retrofitting and improving American homes and buildings to waste less energy, we can save Americans billions of dollars in energy costs. At the same time, we can create jobs and reduce the strain on our nation’s power grid. Reducing the load on our coal-fired power plants would, in turn, cut air pollution — letting everyone breathe a little easier.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves …
Legendary Civil Rights Organization NAACP Joins the Fight for Clean Energy.
At the NAACP Convention this week in New York, the civil rights organization took a historic step toward a clean energy future by passing its first ever resolution addressing clean energy and climate change. Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo was at the convention and played a crucial role in securing the resolution’s ratification.
“At its Centennial Convention, the NAACP has opened a new front in the fight for clean energy,” Jerome said. “When the United States negotiates an international treaty in Copenhagen this year, Americans must be united in our commitment to curb global warming pollution. NAACP is signaling that unity will include the African American grassroots.”
The resolution aligns the NAACP with groups like Apollo Alliance, Sierra Club, the AFL-CIO, and the American Wind Energy Association in support of energy and climate legislation that will create jobs, reduce pollution, and curb global warming.
We’ve posted a new podcast for your listening pleasure. The “Truth About Green-collar Jobs” takes on critics of the green-collar jobs movement and establishes the green jobs truths in this early stage of the clean energy revolution. Click here to listen.
Be sure also to keep track of the quickening pace of state and federal action on clean energy policy on our Apollo Blog and Daily Digest.
Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo: Clean Energy Economy Will Benefit All Communities
CONTACT: Sam Haswell: (415) 371-1700 x201
SAN FRANCISCO – Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo today released the following statement on how the shift to a clean energy economy will benefit Americans of all walks of life:
“It’s time for American of all walks of life to unite behind the transition to a clean energy economy. Clean energy investments like those proposed in the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act will spur demand for clean technologies and create millions of jobs for American workers.
“As an African-American and an environmentalist, I commend the NAACP’s resolution this week to join groups like the Apollo Alliance, Sierra Club, the AFL-CIO, and the American Wind Energy Association in support of energy and climate legislation that will reduce pollution and curb global warming.
“This is especially important right now given that black Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution poses the greatest health threat. Highly polluted areas tend to have a higher rate of unemployment than neighborhoods in cleaner areas. It’s time for a national energy policy that is fair to all citizens of this country.”
Before joining Apollo Alliance in 2005, Jerome Ringo was named chairman of the board of the National Wildlife Federation, becoming the first African-American to head a major conservation organization. Ringo was the United States’ only black delegate at the 1998 Global Warming Treaty Negotiations in Kyoto, Japan, and represented the National Wildlife Federation at the United Nations conference on sustainable development in 1999.
Apollo Alliance Statement on Appointment of Phil Angelides to Head Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
CONTACT: Sam Haswell: (415) 371-1700 x201 or Susan Baltake: (856) 354-9382
SAN FRANCISCO – The Apollo Alliance today issued the following statement on the appointment of Apollo Board Chairman Phil Angelides to serve as Chair of the newly created Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission:
“The Apollo Alliance applauds the decision of Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid to appoint Phil Angelides to serve as Chair of the newly created Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. We know that Phil has the experience, knowledge, and energy to lead this critical non-partisan effort to ascertain the facts about what led to this nation’s financial crisis.
“As Chairman of the Board of the Apollo Alliance, Phil has been a leader in our efforts to bring Americans from all walks of life together to build a clean energy, good jobs economy for our country’s future. We are confident that his expertise in fields of investor protection, housing, finance, and corporate and financial market reform will serve the Commission well as it undertakes a thorough inquiry in the best interests of the country.”
For more on Angelides, visit our Board of Directors page.
Angelides discussed the commission with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo on July 16, 2009.
