Green Jobs + Renewable Energy = A Stronger Nation

“It’s big, it’s bold, it’s green, and while winning it wasn’t pretty or easy, it was well worth the effort,” said Andrew Huff of Environment Iowa, referring to the recently enacted economic recovery package.

On February 17, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Then, in an address to a joint session of the Congress on February 25, he told our nation, “Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector — jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act promises to redraw our energy picture.

The priorities Mr. Obama outlined focus first on energy. “Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years,” he said.

“We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country. And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills.

“But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. And to support that innovation, we will invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

President Obama’s budget priorities will include those signed into law in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, so let’s look there for more specifics about what our Congress has promised in the 1,073 page document. How much of the spending will actually go to green jobs, like those Mr. Obama mentioned in Wednesday’s speech? With help from Andrew Huff, BPGL has pulled together the following list of not-to-miss items from the economic recovery bill:

• $80 billion for clean energy, public transportation and green infrastructure, the largest such investment in our nation’s history.

• 1.6 million new green jobs, including 135,000 green jobs created by a $4.5 billion investment in greening federal buildings.

• A 68 million ton reduction in our nation’s carbon footprint, a cut equivalent to a city the size of Chicago, IL going completely carbon-free.

• Energy renewability and efficiency through research and development of biomass, geothermal, hydrokinetic, hydropower, advanced battery systems and electric vehicles.

• Thanks in part to 20,000 online petition signatures urging congressional leaders to keep President Obama’s recovery plan clean and green, Congress dropped a controversial $50 billion loan guarantee for the coal and nuclear industries.

Did you know? The law also includes:

• River restoration projects as well as habitat restoration on public lands.

• Watershed infrastructure improvements, including purchase and restoration of floodplain easements.

• Increased assistance for residential and business renewable energy and energy conservation projects.

• Weatherization assistance programs for government buildings, private homes and business.

• Modernization of the nation’s electrical grid to conserve energy and accommodate new energy technologies.

This represents an enormous down payment on a new energy future for America. Now it is the task of the Obama administration, the various governmental agencies who will be implementing some of the projects, the major recipients of the green dollars, and the public (you and me) to pay attention and provide feedback to our governmental leaders as we witness these projects unfold. Transparency only works if people are watching.

Miriam Kashia

International Editor/Contributing Writer

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)

An Open Letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

Old — not dead — and rarely silent

I am not a soldier in your army, but I am out here working in your trenches. I am not carrying a gun in Iraq or Afghanistan, but I am carrying your message. I am a retired worker, an active environmentalist and a true-blue American. I am too old to be lied to by my government anymore, but too young to lose the hope that you might be able to change things. I am too realistic to expect miracles from you, but idealistic enough to always dream of a better world.

What else does my generation dream of, Mr. President? What do my fellow Baby Boomers and I picture when we close our eyes? We imagine a world in which we can afford our health insurance, our medications, and next week’s food prices. We wish that one-third of our pensions hadn’t been ripped from our hands. We hope that we can live long enough to earn the Social Security benefits we’ve paid into for so many years. We hope there still is a Social Security fund to sustain us before we die. We hope that 50 years from now our great grandchildren will not be burdened by this year’s Wall Street and Big 3 bailouts, and that the greedy bastards who got us into this mess will still be in prison for their crimes.

And we are angry. Angry that General Motors/GMAC received a $19.4 billion handout and that Chrysler/CF got its $5.5 billion. Mind you, neither corporate giant got so much as a suggestion from our Congress that they should improve gas mileage or produce electric cars. I’m sure they were planning to do both anyway — in 30 years, when our planet runs out of oil. Couldn’t someone in Congress have suggested a few incentives, or limits, or controls, or expectations, or maybe get down on their knees and beg “pretty please?”

Congress is taking money away from the rest of us, and from our next three generations, to give to an industry that has refused to improve emissions for the last 20 years, fought against passenger air bags, killed the electric car production lines, and refused to improve gas mileage standards. I say, let these dinosaurs die. You can bet that, two minutes after the gates of the Big 3 are closed, some hungry, innovative car company from India, or China, or Japan, will build a new plant down the road and begin manufacturing efficient, safe, and reasonably priced, electric vehicles.

We are angry because we were told that the price of food inflated because the price of gas was $4.00 a gallon. But now gas is $1.60, and the price of food is still going up. Damn, we hate being lied to. Worse yet, the food industry is reducing the sizes of the containers, while raising their prices. They not only lie to us, they think we are too stupid to see what they are doing.

And since I‘m on the subject of food, we are not fond of the fact that, through genetic modification, our foods no longer need to be sprayed with pesticides and herbicides —they are pesticides and herbicides. God knows we have to protect our farm yields. Big Ag takes great pride that a genetic engineer has predetermined our cancers, heart disease, asthma, and diabetes. Perhaps our heirs will save money when we die, when our bodies will self-cremate from all the petrochemicals we have digested.

Sir, I wish you the very best. I wouldn’t want your job, but I am elated you won this election. Wouldn’t it be great if Wall Street, the oil industry, the farm lobby, the steel industry, the military weapons industry, the U.S. Auto industry, the medical industry, the pharmaceutical companies, and the food industry, all left Washington, just pulled out and said, “We’re sorry, we screwed up. We promise we won’t put profits before people or the planet ever again. We won’t steal from our investors ever again. We won’t strip mine or clear cut or genetically alter crops or slaughter whales or shoot wolves from airplanes, or kill people, or test chemicals on animals or poison the air, the water, the soil; or deplete the ozone ever again. We promise.” Yeah, right. Dream on.

Mr. President, we know it’s only your second day in office. We know your tasks are mighty. But, you do have a Congress that should be supportive while you try to solve the financial crisis, launch your version of the New Deal, create 3 million new jobs, fight crony capitalism, and keep your country from going bankrupt. Please try to accomplish most of that in your first week in office.

Next week you have to improve the image of our country to the world, and then help bring peace and stability to Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, North and South Korea. And be sure to bring our troops home safely.

As you’re settling in, between phone calls, maybe you’ll get a chance to work on climate change; develop renewable energy; teach your citizens how to live sustainably; improve health care, education, women’s rights, child safety, the electrical grid, and our highway infrastructure; and fight crime, pollution, domestic violence, the spread of AIDS, home foreclosures, and terrorism. Should be no problem. You’re young and energetic.

You gave us a lot of hope during your campaign. Maybe you want a little of it back. But don’t worry, Mr. President, we will be patient, as long as we see a little progress every day. Just don’t tell us any fairy tales about weapons of mass destruction. We regret that you have so much to do, so soon. We regret that you have so many broken things to fix. We realize that dealing with the over-50 crowd isn’t one of your priorities. Just don’t forget we’re here, especially if you need some help. All you have to do is ask. We’re a pretty dependable work force, and we have a lot of wisdom to share. We may be old, but we’re not dead yet, and we won’t be silent.

Joe Hennager

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)

Related Post:

Uniting for a Greener and Safer World

Uniting for a Greener and Safer World

There’s celebration afoot, as our nation prepares to swear in its first African American president. But tomorrow, after the last balloon has floated away, the real work will begin for our young leader. We must not expect him to do it alone.

The future 44th President stumping in Iowa. Photo: Julia Wasson

President Obama will face challenges as great, arguably greater, than any president in any era before. He inherits an economic disaster second only to the Great Depression. Unemployment rates are skyrocketing as business after business closes its doors. The economic hole we’re in threatens to collapse and bury us under massive debt and unprecedented bailouts.

Our very planet is in peril. We wonder, when we’re brave enough to contemplate the question, Will our children’s children find the world as hospitable a home as it was for us? Or will homo sapiens itself find a place on the endangered species list? The decisions our new president makes in the next four — or eight — years will not only affect the economic and political survival of the world’s nations, but will also help determine the fate of every inhabitant on this planet. He must proceed with caution, then act decisively and with determination. And we must give him our support.

But if he forgets for a time that no other issue — not mind-numbing economic crisis, not the tensions and fighting in the Middle East, not even his beloved children — is as critically important as the sustainability of our planet, then we must remind him and hold him accountable.

It is well past time to put an end to environmental rape. We, the American people, must consider whether our cherished “pursuit of happiness” truly requires huge, gas-sucking vehicles to drive to the neighborhood store; giant televisions blaring in empty rooms; closets stuffed with so many pairs of shoes that we will never wear them out; and playrooms filled with so many toys that even toddlers have more possessions than an average family in a developing nation. As Dr. Jeff Murray said in his My 5, “No one should have two of anything until everyone has one.”

Let’s consider our neighbors as well as ourselves. It’s a small planet we share. And when we cry, “Not in my backyard!” let’s remember that someone else’s backyard is as sacred as our own. In too many cases, we’ve pushed our worst polluters onto someone else’s soil. Companies that declare themselves “green” in this country too often turn the waters black and poison the air on the other side of the planet. We must not let environmental sins go unrecognized, let alone unpunished.

President Obama has proposed a new, green-collar workforce, trained in environmentally responsible jobs and building a system of renewable energy that can free us from clinging to foreign oil. Let’s not stop there. As the economy improves, let’s do all we can to improve energy efficiency and retrofit our own businesses and homes with alternative sources of power.

Today, when our 44th president takes the oath of office, let’s take oaths of our own. If you haven’t yet written your My 5, do it now. Ask yourself, “What are the five most important things we can do to save the planet?” What are you willing to do? Really? Make your commitment now, and hold yourself accountable. Then start today. It’s up to each of us to support our president as he tries to make the planet sustainable for humankind. Whether your party was red or blue or another hue entirely, let’s all come together as one green nation.

As a candidate, Mr. Obama’s theme was “Change.” When he is sworn in this morning, let’s remember another great leader, Ghandi, who said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Obama’s mantra throughout the campaign was, “Yes, we can.” And now, as a united American people, I urge us all to say, “Yes, we can — and we will.”

Julia Wasson

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)