Labor Day Reflections On U.S. Healthcare
Posted by Gina-Marie Cheeseman September 7th, 2009 
0 Comments
Labor Day is more than just a mere day off, but a day to honor the men and women past and present who fought for labor reform. Part of the fight to obtain better working conditions and pay included the advent of Labor Day. In 1882, New York City workers took an unpaid holiday, calling it Labor Day. A year later, the Central Labor Union held a second Labor Day holiday. By 1885 Labor Day was “celebrated in many industrial centers of the country,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
In 1898, four years after President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making the first Monday of September a holiday, Samuel Gompers called it “the day for which the toilers in past centuries looked forward, when their rights and their wrongs would be discussed.”
“Solar Energy Initiatives” Capitalizes on Fed Stimulus
Posted by Andrew Burger September 7th, 2009 0 Comments
Concerns about employment have become even more prominent in the US in the wake of the bursting of the latest, and arguably the deepest, financial and real estate bubble since the Great Depression.
By way of overcoming the current economic downturn and setting the foundation for healthier, more sustainable development and growth in the 21st century, “Going Green” has become the mantra for those who would like to see the US wean itself off its dependence on fossil fuels. The idea: Stimulate the development and adoption of clean technology and renewable energy.
The message is a powerful one, and companies such as Solar Energy Initiatives are aiming to capitalize on it. Based in Ponte Vedra, Florida, the solar energy systems dealer and integrator’s overarching strategy is defined in its “Renew the Nation” campaign and mission statement—”to help redeploy a portion of the US workforce and focus on reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels by selling solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) technologies.”
Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting – Proving the Triple Bottom Line to Big Businesses
Posted by Sarah Harper September 7th, 2009 1 Comment
If more people perceived the word “sustainability” to be synonymous with “wealth creation,” I imagine many of the barriers to forming a green infrastructure simply wouldn’t exist. Blue Skye, a San Francisco-based sustainability consulting firm, is seeking to establish that synonymy, helping business leaders use sustainability to craft new, inventive wealth generating strategies. The message that environmental and social issues are part of the core of any green business – a message Blu Skye consultants convey to businesses big and small – has achieved significant results. If efforts like Blu Skye’s are successful, more companies – and job seekers – stand to benefit from the business possibilities inherent in sustainability.
Green Jobs Training: Emerging Opportunities To Leverage Stimulus Dollars
Posted by Deborah Fleischer September 6th, 2009 2 Comments
A centerpiece of the stimulus package is an effort to put 3 and 4 million people back to work over the next two years.
The site Recovery.gov includes a map of the U.S. with the estimated jobs expected under the Recovery Act superimposed over each state. California leads with 396,000 anticipated jobs, while North Dakota and Vermont expect the least job growth with 8,000 each.
I’v been curious to better understand who is leading the charge on training the workforce for the wave of new green jobs we are expecting. Are companies taking the lead? Federal agencies or state governments? It seems to be a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. If you deploy training programs without partnering with business, you will have a trained workforce, but no jobs. And if you create the jobs, but neglect workforce development, critical shortage of specialists in growing professions could occur.
According to the National Renewable Energy Lab, the major barriers to a more rapid adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency in America are insufficient skills and training.
Looking For a Green Job? Grab Your Rain Boots
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor September 4th, 2009 3 Comments
It’s been 200 days since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency says it has allocated 92 percent of the $7.22 billion Recovery Act dollars it is charge of allocating. And much of that money will be used for projects to improve water quality, wastewater infrastructure and drinking water infrastructure.
Specifically, $4 billion is going for assistance to help communities with water quality and wastewater infrastructure needs and $2 billion for drinking water infrastructure needs. A portion of the funding will be targeted toward green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally innovative projects.
On Thursday, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson ticked off a short lift of water-related projects that promise to create jobs, including a harbor cleanup in New Bedford, Mass. (270 jobs) and a Superfund cleanup project (more than 200 jobs) in at the Iron Mountain Mine in Redding, Calif., which used to discharge one ton of toxic materials into the Sacramento River every day. Once completed, the local hydroelectric power plant will use the restored waters to produce energy.
President Obama is requesting $475 million in next year’s budget for cleaning up the Great Lakes—and this would be just a small part of the funding if he makes good on his campaign promise of devoting $5 billion for Great Lakes restoration.
Cisco Pays Employees Not to Work at Cisco
Posted by Ashwin Seshagiri September 4th, 2009 4 Comments
How the Computer Networking Giant Encourages Non-Profit Service
A few years back, the Financial Times told the story of Peter Santis, a regional sales manager for computer networking giant, Cisco Systems. When he was let go, according to the article (links to articles dating before 2004 aren’t available on FT.com), Santis was presented with a unique proposition. Instead of walking away with a pink slip and a severance package, he was given the opportunity to remain a part of the Cisco family working for a non-profit.
Peter Tavernise, now a senior manager at Cisco’s Corporate Affairs Group, found himself in a similar position in 2001. When he was laid off, Tavernise was offered one-third of his former salary with full benefits to become a Cisco Fellow and spend the next year as planner and fundraiser for a North Carolina-based public affairs group. Since returning to the company, Tavernise has used what he did for that non-profit to help shape what he is doing now.
These days the program is called Cisco Leadership Fellows, and it is more focused on employees with potential as a way to, as the company asserts, bring people and technology together to make a difference and help a community prosper.
Green Job Training – A Much-Needed Solution Or a Drop in the Bucket?
Posted by Sarah Harper September 4th, 2009 1 Comment
If a new green jobs program unveiled by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday has its intended effect, lack of ability will no longer stand in the way of many Californians’ efforts to join the green work force. The $75 million plan would train more than 20,000 workers for jobs in the clean energy sector, thereby somewhat alleviating (in theory) the state’s history-making unemployment rate. Yet I’m unconvinced: will these effects be a mere drop in the bucket called “California’s job market”?
Schwarzenegger revealed the plan in Los Angeles’ Trade-Technical College, the Los Angeles Times reports. The program is intended to train both young workers and the unemployed in green building design and weatherization and solar installation. A $20 million injection from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and funds from the California Energy Commission, community groups, and educational institutions, will fund the program.
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to Sacramento’s Unemployed: Help Is On the Way…?
Posted by Sarah Harper September 4th, 2009 0 Comments
The fact that California is in dire straits (economically speaking) is no new news. But for anyone wondering just how bad it is, a recent visit by Obama’s newly sworn-in Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to Cali’s capital should clarify the issue. Solis visited Sacramento Friday on a promissory tour. If Solis’ consolations are true, help should be on the way for Californians and businesses struggling in the current economy. But what does this mean for the state’s sustainability efforts?
According to a report by The Sacramento Bee, Solis is touring the country in an effort to promote Obama administration’s stimulus plan nationwide. She stopped at a Sacramento Employment and Training Agency job search center in Foothill Farms because, of the numerous American communities hard-hit by the recession, Sacramento is one of the hardest hit. (Last January, the city’s unemployment rate reached 10.4 percent, a high not seen there since the 1980’s. [The national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent.]
“Once Upon a Job” – Nightly Business Report Series Explores Unemployment in the Current Economy
Posted by Sarah Harper September 3rd, 2009 0 Comments
Oh, the good old days, when jobs were plentiful, stable, well-paying, and benefit-providing. The fact that those days are over is the lament of a new Nightly Business Report (NBR) series, “Once Upon a Job”. Through a series of interviews, the slice-of-life three-part series explores the current economy from the point-of-view of the jobless. One could conclude from the interviews that unemployment is more than just an economic issue; it also reflects the substance of a society, the availability of resources, and the creativity of the individual, among other things.
Choose the Best Sustainability Consultant for Your Company
Posted by Jen Boynton September 1st, 2009 8 Comments
We all know what we need to do to make our companies more environmentally friendly: use less energy, water, and paper, travel less and make less garbage. But yeah, it’s easier said than done especially if you’re in a carbon intensive business like manufacturing or energy production. What’s the company without a lot of time or expertise to do? Well, hire someone, of course! Who do you hire, and how do you know what to look for? Here’s the lowdown on the biggest and smallest players in the newest consulting game and how to separate the wheat from the formerly-unemployed-newly-rebranded “Sustainability Consultant.”
First, you need to know what you are looking for. Different consultants have different kinds of expertise:
Labor Day 2009
What's a Green Job?
Good question. There's no official definition but many people have ideas.
The theory around here is that building sustainable principals into our economy is not only going to make us happier and healthier it also lays the groundwork for a stronger economy in the traditional sense. This labor day (and a few days before and after) we'll be asking questions, telling stories, and brining in a host of experts to kick off a conversation.
This special series features regular Triple Pundit contributors as well as guests who were asked to comment on the idea of "green jobs" and a "green economy" - what they're doing to advance these ideas or whether they even mean anything at all.
If you would like to contribute a post, there's still time. Please get in touch via email.
