San Diego Creates Green Pathways Out of Poverty
During a campaign speech last year, President Obama made a promise that the United States would weatherize at least 1 million low-income homes each year for the next decade. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act took the first steps toward making that promise a reality by including $5 billion to expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, a move that has the potential to create over 78,000 jobs in the construction industry each year, according to the Department of Energy, and generate huge demand for workers with specific technical knowledge of energy efficiency. Read more
Massachusetts Apollo Wins Key Victory
On Oct. 27, Massachusetts solidified its leadership in tackling climate change and creating good jobs by adopting a $1.4 billion plan to improve residential energy efficiency in working class communities. The Green Justice Coalition, an Apollo Alliance chapter comprised of community, labor and environmental groups, spearheaded the campaign to bring equity and economic development into the state’s three-year utility plans. Read more
Lost Creek Wind Farm Turbines Made in the USA
Farmers in DeKalb County, Mo., who depend on corn, soybeans and pasture land for their livelihoods will soon gain another source of income: annual payments from the Wind Capital Group, which is leasing space on their properties to create the largest wind farm in Missouri. Lost Creek Wind Farm will cover 32,000 acres and produce enough electricity to power 50,000 homes. The project will also create short-term construction jobs and ongoing operations jobs as well as infrastructure benefits for DeKalb County. Read more
New York Invests in Green-Collar Jobs
New York State took a bold step toward improving energy efficiency and creating quality green-collar jobs this October when Gov. David Paterson signed the Green Jobs/Green New York Act of 2009 into law. The product of active collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders, the bill represents an exciting new development in a state that has already shown a strong commitment to energy efficiency and innovation. Read more
Portland Weatherization Program Gives Top Billing to Labor Standards and Community Benefits
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| A contractor performing a blower door test to identify air infiltration and leakage throughout a home. Photo credit: Energy Trust of Oregon |
Clean Energy Works Portland is a groundbreaking new program that enables Portland residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and pay for the improvements over time through their utility bills. But the most exciting and unique aspect of the program is the Community Workforce Agreement that was developed by representatives of labor unions, community groups, businesses, community colleges, and other stakeholders. It is a comprehensive plan to make sure that new jobs created by Clean Energy Works Portland are high quality, career-track jobs that offer family-supporting wages and benefits, and that they go to local residents from diverse backgrounds. Read more
Clean Energy Incentives Allow Simonton Windows to Rehire 400 Employees
Simonton Windows, a producer of vinyl windows and doors, announced in early August that it had extended offers to rehire all 402 seasonal and full-time workers—263 in West Virginia and 139 in Illinois—who were laid off by the company last winter, and that it is set to hire 55 additional employees in the near future. Read more
Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone – A Vision for 21st Century Urban Renewal
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) had a vision for how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) could benefit the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, where he served as mayor from 1991 - 1999. The city would create a 150-block “Green Impact Zone,” where federal dollars could spur the renewal of a poor and dilapidated area by creating a program to put residents to work weatherizing thousands of neighborhood homes. Read more
HECK, Let’s Retrofit Some Homes
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Volunteer receives weatherization materials. |
For the last two autumns, students from the University of Buffalo, Daemen College, and Nichols School stood side-by-side with union workers and community members to caulk, seal and insulate homes in Buffalo, New York. The all-volunteer energy efficiency crews are part of a project started by Frank Hotchkiss, chairman of the Western New York Apollo Alliance and New York State Apollo steering committee member. Read more
“Lean and Green” Manufacturing Program Helps Washington’s Small Manufacturers Reduce Energy Use and Waste
When Nature’s Path Foods, an organic cereal manufacturer with a facility in Blaine, Wash., decided that being a green company meant going beyond using organic ingredients in its food, it wasn’t sure where to turn to find out how to green its manufacturing processes. Read more
Sunrise Solar Inc.: Powered by Passion
Few would have predicted the meteoric rise of Sunrise Solar Inc., a Midwest manufacturer of solar-powered attic fans, when company president Bill Keith launched the business in 2003 from his garage in St. John, Indiana. Keith, however, was so confident of the company’s eventual success that he mortgaged his own home to finance the start-up business. Read more
