Category: Global Warming
REPORT: CLEAN ENERGY JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS SEE SHARP Q3 SLOWDOWN
10,800+ Clean Energy Jobs Announced in Q3 2012, but Political, Regulatory Uncertainty Takes Toll; Top 10 States in Q3: Calif., NY, Ore. Wash. N.M., TX, NC, Minn. Ill. Nev.
WASHINGTON (Nov. 8, 2012) – More than 10,800 jobs were announced in the clean energy sector and related industries in the third quarter of this year, according to the latest analysis by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).
The top 10 green job states in the third quarter of 2012 were (from No.1 to No.10): California, New York, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, Illinois and Nevada.
While significant, the job growth was dramatically less than in the previous two quarters of this year – despite an improving economy.
The latest “What Clean Energy Jobs? These Clean Energy Jobs!” report suggests that what was once strong job growth in the clean energy sector is being reined in by uncertainty over politics and policies such as the production tax credit (PTC) for the wind industry that is about to expire.
By comparison, E2 tracked announcements involving more than 37,000 jobs in the clean energy sector in the second quarter. In the first quarter of this year, there were 46,000 clean energy jobs announced – more than four times as many as in the third quarter.
“These numbers show that policy matters,” said Judith Albert, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs. “With clean energy job announcements slowing down, it becomes even more important that Congress and the administration take the right steps to ensure that we don’t lose any more momentum in the clean energy sector that’s helping both our economy and our environment.”
E2 also unveiled a new online tracking tool that can be used to search for job announcements by sector and by state that can be found at www.e2.org/cleanjobs.
The third-quarter report is the latest since E2 began tracking clean energy job announcements in September 2011. E2 is a nationwide network of business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity. It is an affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
For the complete report, as well as past reports, please see www.e2.org/cleanjobs.
The report comes as Congress is about to return to Washington and has the opportunity to extend the production tax credit that has created tens of thousands of jobs in the wind energy industry. The looming Dec. 31 expiration of the PTC has already resulted in massive layoffs and project curtailments in the wind industry.
“It’s hard to expand your business and create new jobs with this much political uncertainty affecting the wind industry,” said Jacob Susman, founder and CEO of OwnEnergy, Inc, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based wind farm developer.
“The election is now over, and the political posturing needs to end,” Susman said. “Congress should give businesses like mine the certainty we need to grow, by passing the Senate Finance Committee’s version of the PTC in the upcoming tax extenders package that will let us all get back to work.”
According to the E2 report:
*Power generation companies announced the most clean energy jobs in the July-September quarter. Solar, wind and biogas companies announced 40 projects that together would create more than 6,000 jobs.
*Manufacturing companies making everything from electric vehicles to solar panels announced 14 projects in the quarter that would create more than 1,600 jobs. However, most projects were being completed or nearing completion.
*In the wind industry, manufacturing job announcements fell to zero in the third quarter, compared to eight announcements in Q1 and two in Q2.
*Clean energy job announcements have no political or regional boundaries. Forty-eight percent of the announcements were in Republican congressional districts, 46 percent were in Democratic districts, and 6 percent spanned more than one congressional district.
*Three states saw significant jumps in announcement for clean energy and related jobs between the second and third quarters: North Carolina (from No. 26 to No. 7), Washington (from No. 27 to No. 4), and Texas (from No. 15 to No. 6).
The E2 report is compiled from formal job announcements and media reports. They include projects and programs in various stages of development mainly in the manufacturing, energy, biofuels and public transportation industries.
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Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) is a national community of individual business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity. Learn more at: www.E2.org.
Expectant and New Moms: How You Can Help Your Baby Go Green For Their Own Future’s Sake
An average child will go through several thousand diapers in his or her lifetime, a truly frightening fact, and of course the longer you leave it before toilet training, the more they will use. Disposable diapers are trashed after a single use, and hence the use of disposables increases the burden on landfill sites and the refuse collection facilities which deliver to them. An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used each year in the US, resulting in a possible 3.4 million tons of used diapers adding to landfills each year.
Environmental Conscience
Increased environmental awareness has led to a growth in campaigns for parents to use reusable alternatives such as cloth or hybrid diapers.
Choosing a disposable diaper with an ecological conscience could be one way in which you can reduce your impact on the carbon footprint you and your baby make. As opposed to Huggies and Pampers they can also be much better for your baby! Some studies conducted to by curious mothers and the Anderson Laboratories in 1999 have found that the absorbent locking in gel, which prevents the baby from sitting in their urine for long periods of time actually could have links to respiratory problems and asthma development.
There is however no such thing as a biodegradable diaper when it comes to landfills. There isn’t enough air, water or light to make it happen.
A brand called Tushies could provide a potential solution. They make a cotton-blend diaper made with chlorine-free wood pulp that contains no extra chemicals or gels. Their site says they’re “assembled in the U.S. with domestic materials and certified non-chlorine bleached wood pulp from Scandinavian, sustainable, renewable, family-owned forests.”
You can find them in some health-food stores or they can be delivered to your door in bulk via UPS. They’re more expensive than conventional disposables but for many this is an investment, since we are talking about what is in proximity to your child’s skin 24/7 for up to three whole years!
Cloth Diapers http://commons.
The environmental impact of cloth versus traditional disposable diapers has been debated and debated. Much like the breastfeeding debate, every mother has a view and most are happy to share it.
There are various options for the use of cloth diapers, firstly to employ a company to launder them for you (which is efficient in terms of cleaning, not so in terms of the trucks on the road). Alternatively you can launder them yourself, which is more road use efficient since they do not need collecting from or returning to you but you also tend to use more water and cleaning chemicals in the laundry process.
It is recommended that cloth diaper users can reduce their impact upon the environment by not washing them above 60 °C. When replacing your washer, consider the efficiency levels and choose a model as efficient as possible as you’re going to be using the washer an awful lot more than would usually be the case. In addition avoiding the use of the tumble dryer wherever possible and line drying not only helps the environmental impact but also makes the nappy fresher for the baby.
Cost
People who choose cloth diapers over traditional disposable ones rarely do it because of their price being lower, usually it is motivated by an alliance to their ecological conscience. The fact is though that their use can be significantly lower over the diaper wearing lifetime of the baby which is a fantastic additional bonus. It is estimated conservatively that a baby will use anywhere between $1500 and $2000 worth of diapers until the point they are potty trained, while the reusable diapers will set you back roughly $300 as a start up guideline. Of course the ongoing cost to launder is hard to estimate but has to be taken into account in addition.
A basic set can be used from birth to toddler and so don’t necessarily need to be replaced, and of course a real win is that they can be used again for subsequent babies. Even mothers who don’t go on to have other children can make their ecological investment stretch further, by handing them to a relative or friend or even donating them online to needy families. By potty training early you can also help to reduce your environmental impact. The average age of the maturity of the required muscles for toilet training is around 18 months, but yet the average potty training age is between 24-36 months, meaning in some cases diapers are used for twice as long as is necessary.
By at least considering your ecological impact and doing what you can in the use of diapers, you can do your bit for the world around your child and their children…. and beyond.
Claudia Harold is a freelance writer from England who writes about organic mattress Tempur-Pedic comparison, organic food and clean energy sources.
Act Now EPA Hearings on Greenhouse Gas Standards for New Coal Plants
There’s a key opportunity for progress on solutions to global warming pollution, and your action can help make a difference for the path America takes.
This Thursday, the U.S. EPA will hold public hearings in Chicago and Washington DC on the proposed standards that would lead to less greenhouse gas pollution from new coal plants. These standards are an important step forward. Please let EPA know that you support the proposed standards.
The U.S. EPA is asking to hear from you, and you can add you support:
- Online – Use ELPC’s Action Center to submit a public comment to U.S. EPA.
- Offline – If you are in Chicago or Washington DC this Thursday, you can attend the public hearings taking place nationwide. Here are details on attending the hearings.
ELPC is working hard to reduce global warming pollution in ways that are good for job creation, good for economic growth and good for our environment and health. These proposed new EPA standards will help, and you can weigh in to support making them happen.
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