green jobs

Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) stops by the 80MS conference to talk about greening our future.

His hilarious speech followed with great questions and answers the most amusing answer being

Green technology can't solve all of our problems, I'm not that guy saying "Ya got acne? Here's a solar panel!"

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The US Labor Department's program YouthBuild is designed to provide assistance to at risk youth who are behind in skill level with alternatives to education in efforts to ensure they finish high school.

"The primary target populations for YouthBuild are adjudicated youth, youth aging out of foster care, out-of-school youth, and other at-risk populations. "

According to a release from the Labor Department 183 groups dedicated to YouthBuild services throughout the country received $114 million.

"This amount is an initial increment for two years of grant operations. A remaining increment may be awarded pending the availability of additional funding. Among today's awardees, 62 are current Department of Labor YouthBuild grantees, and 121 are new to the department."

One such program in Columbia, Missouri schools students for half of the day, and the rest of the day shows them how to build homes that then help disadvantaged families. A new program in Phoenix will fund the first ever green building project done by youth. The Phoenix students will build two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified houses in older neighborhoods.

"President Obama and I are delighted to be able to increase funding for this promising program, which does so much for youth and their communities," said Secretary Solis. "The YouthBuild program not only assists young people in obtaining education and skills, but also gives them a sense of accomplishment and empowers them as they give back to their communities."

The release also says that $47 million of the total program budget came from the stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year. With all the no votes for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 one would think it was filled with useless and meaningless projects - clearly this is yet another real world example of the lives impacted by this year's Congress.

It appears that Schwarzenegger and Obama see eye-to-eye on what should be done to reignite the economy. The California Governor, who publicly supported the stimulus package even when other Republican Governors did not, takes a page out of Obama's campaign promises to deliver a program that focuses on 'green' and youth.

President Obama and I share similar priorities right now when it comes to helping the economy rebound and creating a greener California and America,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “In California we will utilize federal economic stimulus funds and public-private partnerships to help stimulate our economy while initiating actions to improve our environment. Green jobs are exactly what our economy and environment need right now – and the California Green Corps targets that need while helping at-risk young adults realize a brighter future.

The program, a 20-month pilot, is aimed at 16 to 24 year old at-risk youth. In addition to providing technical job training in the eco-industry, the program also includes a stipend, an educational requirement and community service. And since it's a public-private partnership, half of the $20 million will come from the private sector and the other half from the federal stimulus money (the private sector money is not guaranteed, however). All the details are not hammered out, but the Governor's choice of a community college as a venue for the press launch of California Green Corps means that he understands that community colleges are equipped to get local residents trained for a new economy.

A few more details. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Karen Baker will be in charge of the program. GreenBiz.com reports that the California Green Corps will be based on some of the principles of the Oakland Green Job Corps.

Some highlights from the Governor's office:

• At least 1,000 at-risk youths will be placed in green jobs through the 20-month Green Corps pilot program - building up both underserved communities and our green workforce.
• There will be at least 10 regional Green Corps, and at least one in each of state's nine economic regions, that should begin serving youth by this Summer. In order to participate, regional organizations must partner to apply for a grant from the state. A Green Corps Advisory Committee will select the winning models.
• To help ensure the success of the Green Corps, it will be housed within CaliforniaVolunteers. This agency is in a unique position to work across state agencies, regional non-profits, foundations and businesses as well as to leverage federal economic stimulus monies - because this is what CaliforniaVolunteers does every day.

Feminism 2.0

Date: Monday, February 2, 2009
Time: 09:30 AM - 05:00 PM
Location: George Washington University
Betts Theater at the Marvin Center
800 21st Street, N.W Washington, DC 20052

Good Jobs, Green Jobs

Date: February 4 - 6
Location: Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, D.C.

USSA's National Grassroots Legislative Conference

Date: March 21-24, 2009.
Location:L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
480 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC 20024

USSA's Grassroots Legislative Conference & National Student Lobby Day (LegCon) is an annual conference held in Washington, DC, where hundred of student leaders from across the country to meet, are educated on up to date information regarding national higher education legislation and attend workshops by presented by prominent non-profits. The conference culminates to the National Student Lobby Day, where students march to the capitol and meet with their elected officials, lobbying for student friendly higher education legislation.

• Erica America reports that MTV is shafting their citizen journalists on their paychecks. The problem was widespread since the early days of the program, prompting a number of the original Street Teamers to resign.
• The Boston Globe notes that the Curtis Gans report I blogged about yesterday also casts some doubts on the utility of early voting.
• A New York Times Editorial alerts us to The American Veterans’ and Servicemembers’ Survival Guide, a book to help veterans navigate and get their due from the government bureaucracy. The book is put out by Veterans for America.
• As we talk about getting young people a seat at the table in the new administration, The Washington Post reminds us that Obama's chief speech writer is only 27 years old, the youngest person to ever hold the post.
• It's Getting Hot in Here reports that Hilda Solis, the new Labor Secretary, is a big Green Jobs advocate.
• Wellstone Action has published some best practices for internet organizing.
• Speaking of internet organizing, Google's DC Talks series just released two great videos on the subject. The first features Obama blogger Sam Graham-Felsen and Buffy Wicks, one of the campaign's field directors. Buffy was at Roots Camp and gave a great presentation on the Obama field strategy. The second video is a panel on open government that I have not yet had a chance to watch.