auto industry

Here's a hodgepodge of news on Millennials, policy arcana, and a dark day for the blogosphere:

• Soapblox, the software that runs many blogs within the 50 State Blog Network, was hacked last night, causing a huge chunk of progressive on-line infrastructure to go dark. People are scrambling to see if the problem is at all fixable, and if not, to salvage what they can and move to new platforms. It is literally a dark day for the progressive blogosphere, and major sites like Swing State Project might have lost their entire archive.
• The folks at Millennial Makeover have two new pieces up. The first looks at how Millennials hold the keys to the auto industry's future. The second piece looks at Obama's transition and measures it against previous transitions during political realignments.
• I was lax last week in noting the passing of Sen. Clairborne Pell, the creator of the Pell Grant program. This NYT Obit pays fitting tribute to his legacy.
• Tragically, the NYT also ran a story that week about how universities are now forming partnerships with credit card companies, often to the financial detriment of students who rack up massive debt:
  

  Bank of America’s relationship with the university extends well beyond marketing at sports events. The bank has an $8.4 million, seven-year contract with Michigan State giving it access to students’ names and addresses and use of the university’s logo. The more students who take the banks’ credit cards, the more money the university gets. Under certain circumstances, Michigan State even stands to receive more money if students carry a balance on these cards.

  Hundreds of colleges have contracts with lenders. But at a time of rising concern about student debt — and overall consumer debt — the arrangements have sounded alarm bells, and some student groups are starting to push back.

  The relationships are reminiscent of those uncovered two years ago between student loan companies and universities. In those, some lenders offered universities an incentive to steer potential borrowers their way.

• Congress Matters alerts us to key personnel changes on some subcommittees within the Energy and Commerce committee. Those working on energy and climate issues should take note.

Here are a few more things of interest that have trickled out over the last few days.

Enjoy!

• Via Peter Levine, the Case Foundation has launched "Change Begins with Me," a campaign inviting Americans to go to the organization's website and complete the sentence, "Change begins with me..." The foundation will randomly select one participant who will win a trip to Washington D.C. for the inauguration and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.
• From the LA Times, a nineteen-year-old Cal State Fullerton student won a Placentia City Council seat. And unlike many of the characters in youth political involvement stories this cycle, Jeremy Yamaguchi is a Republican (though he sounds like a Millennial Republican).
• A reflection on YouTube's political use this cycle -- by a YouTube employee.
• Domestic automobiles aren't appealing to Gen Y.
• Harry C. Boyte's commentary on the civic potential of public works projects, like Obama's.
• A University of Arkansas law student argues that the key to a Democratic breakthrough in the Appalachian region is the development of a "Blue/Green" populist coalition (blue collar workers and green voters), citing examples of success. Possibly a good way to bring Boomers and Millennials together?
• Last summer, Congress passed a bill extending the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Dept. of Education is now charged with executing the bill, and it's proposing regulations on how to do just that.

Happy Holidays. Here's what's caught my eye this week:

• The Washington Independent notes that Obama's energy policy is being driven by (young) green votes.
• AlterNet asks, Will the youth movement save the labor movement?
• Daily Kos has data that Join the Impact's anti-Prop 8 protests have changed enough minds in California that the ballot measure would not pass a second time. And they have data to prove it. That's an effective use of the protest model.
• The National Journal credits young voters with Obama's win, noting that his advantage among Millennials is bad news for the longterm health of the GOP. Generation We, YDA and others get good play in this excellent article.
• Oregon local news notes that young people were elected to the state legislature in droves this year, doubling their numbers within the Democratic caucus. Jefferson Smith, one of the founders of the Bus Project, is one of those new Young Elected Officials and he is quoted in the article.
• Netcentric Advocacy gives us the Obama campaign by the numbers. Interesting stats here.
• This is a must read. In the Huffington Post, Jake Brewer of the Energy Action Coalition, son of a GM worker, gives a heartbreaking and insightful account of the state of the auto industry. Word on the street is that this piece is getting read by GM execs.
• MySpace and Change.org are partnering with a number of other youthy and techie c3s to ask for your ideas on what President Obama should do once he takes office. They've got a cool Digg-style site set up to rate ideas, which must be no more than 250 words in length.
• The Obama Transition Team wants your ideas on healthcare.
• The Daily Kos empire expands with the launch of Congress Matters, a new blog that will track what's going on in Congress and offer activists and regular citizens information on how they can most impact the policy process.
• Danah Boyd and some other smarties have finished a three year ethnographic study of digital youth. This should be interesting.
• Engaged Youth has a post up about the "Activism Style of Millennials."
• At Tech President, Micah Sifry interviews Marshall Ganz about Obama's field operation and the upside and dangers of Obama as the first President backed by a full-fledged movement.

Just today in Lansing, Obama spoke on the issue that concerns Michigan voters the most—the economy. With the decline of the auto industry, Michigan is a state enduring economic turmoil. In response, Obama laid out a plan to retool auto workers to enter positions in the alternative energy industry and to push for alternative energy development.

Obama’s plan is attractive to plenty of the state’s voters, whom are tired of the gloom and despair that haunt their personal finances and the state’s economy. They see energy as the best way out of the mess. In the polls, half of Michigan voters said energy issues matter more to them than the war in Iraq. 86% would like to see the government supporting renewable energy development, especially for solar and wind energy.

Our auto sector is already shifting their focus to developing biofuel, electric and hydrogen technologies from the pressure of high gas prices, new national fuel-economy standards and emission concerns. That means our engineers and workers are highly suited for alternative energy jobs. Our state is home to the nation’s first wood-to-ethanol plant and research and development on plug-in electric cars, lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid engines, propulsion inverters, lightweight materials and direct-injection diesel technology just to name a few.

So what other prospects does alternative energy hold for Michigan? And what other ways can we alleviate Michigan’s economic problems? These questions are explained and more at Michigan Youth Political Alliance.