How-to bring jobs

[irishbobcat]

Rick:

Your  blue-collar background should not be upset when you hear green-collar jobs. Green collar jobs, companies, and factories need and will use blue-collar persons and skills to provide a new manufacturing base and jobs to bring back our manufacturing base. Please read the news article written  regarding the recent conference in Pittsburgh. Blue collar employees who have been out of work are now being hired to do green collar labor. There are no steel mills left in the valley for blue collar workers.....but we can bring green collar manufacturing companies to the valley to employ blue collar workers.

'Green' energy demand means more jobs – conference

By Jon Hurdle
REUTERS

11:24 a.m. March 14, 2008

PITTSBURGH – Growing U.S. demand for alternative energy is boosting job creation and investment in renewable fuels and energy efficiency technology, experts told a national conference ending Friday.
Workers are finding jobs building turbines for wind farms, installing solar panels and retrofitting buildings with stronger insulation as businesses learn to make money while being environmentally conscious, said speakers at the "Good Jobs, Green Jobs" conference, organized by the environmental lobbying group Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers union.


The conference drew more than 900 people from business, government, the nonprofit sector, academia and trade unions to discuss ways of increasing jobs in the environmental sector.
"The idea that we are still, in 2008, surprised that good jobs and environmental quality go hand-in-hand is something that should sober us all," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope.

There are currently about 8 million "green" jobs in the United States in industries that attracted $148 million in investment in 2007, up 60 percent from the year before, said Lois Quam, managing director of alternative investments at Piper Jaffray, an investment company.

"The green economy is poised to be the mother of all markets, the economic investment opportunity of a lifetime," Quam said. "The challenge of global warming presents us all with the greatest opportunity for return on investment and growth that any of us will ever see."


GREEN JOBS IN A BLUE-COLLAR PLACE

Investment opportunities exist in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable products and retooling of existing industries like transportation and packaging, Quam said.

Kathleen McGinty, secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, said companies like Spain's Gamesa – which makes components like turbine blades for wind farms – have moved to Pennsylvania and created jobs in a state once dominated by the steel and coal mining industries.

"We are a hard-hat, blue-collar, steel-tipped boots kind of place, and maybe we have something to offer," McGinty said.

Pennsylvania resident Troy Galloway, 44, worked as a machinist in a steel plant for 15 years until he was laid off. After several years struggling as a real estate agent and contractor, he found a job with Gamesa in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, where about 400 workers make components for wind farms.

Galloway, married with three children, underwent some retraining but largely transferred his skills as a steelworker. He makes $12.36 an hour, a similar rate to his steelmaking job.

Gamesa employs about 1,400 people throughout Pennsylvania.

"Business is very good. We're booked up until 2009," Galloway said.

In Trenton, New Jersey, a company called TerraCycle turns waste like plastic soda bottles into containers for liquid fertilizer and personal accessories like handbags.

"There is so much waste out there that can be upcycled into new products," said Tom Szaky, 26, the company's chief executive. "It's not garbage anymore. It's just a commodity that has some value behind it."

This is why I am running as an Independent Green Party Candidate for State Representative for the 60th district. We can bring Green collar manufacturing to this valley to employ blue collar workers to help the poor, working class, and middle class of this valley.
This is my vision, this is my goal, this is my platform. Has Bob Hagan looked into bringing such 21st century ideas back to this valley?

That is why I would appreciate your vote and the votes of all progressive minded individuals who want to see blue-collar green-collar
jobs back into this valley.

Dennis Spisak- Independent Green Party Candidate for State Representative-60th District
campaign web-site: http://votespisak.tripod.com

[Rick Rowlands]

Why is it when ever I read the phrase "green collar" I get hot under my "blue collar"?   I will be happy when this "green" fad passes.  Its all BS and is counterproductive to say the least.

[irishbobcat]

Jay,

Yes, first the city of Youngstown would have to see if there were any zoning laws that would need to be changed to allow for vacant lots or such to be used. if there are no current regulations, it would mean the city or your state representative would have to get in contact with current urban cities that already have such regulations in place. Oakland, Ca, Boston, Ma, and New York City are the first three cities that come to mind that are progressively putting renewable energy projects in urban areas.

Closer to home Cleveland and Toledo would be good contact locations.

Dennis Spisak- Independent Green Party Candidate for State Representative-60th District

[jay]

Tax breaks should be given to anyone who currently lives in Youngstown.   Our city's income taxes and property taxes are too high.
--------------------------------
Irishbob,

The city of Youngstown should start working on the infrastructure for solar energy and alternative fuels.  Adjoining vacant lots could be reserved for the creation of neighborhood solar energy stations.

Some regulatory actions need to be addressed.
Examples
Do zoning regulations allow wind turbines near residential neighborhoods?

Do the zoning regulations prevent new structures from casting a shadow on someone's existing solar panels.

[ytowner]

I will bring jobs to the valley by using tax breaks for companies to locate here, and also by removing a union workforce as a whole.

Therefore I will not vote Democratic for many positions here, or any other left parties, including the Green, that is further to the left.

[irishbobcat]

Many people have started to ask me how I would bring green jobs to the valley. I would rely on the following four-step approach:

First, set a baseline to start from. Identify environmental and economic goals, and assess local and regional opportunities for achieving those goals.

Second, develop a green economic development plan. Enact policies and programs to drive investment into targeted green economic activity and increase demand for local green-collar workers.

Third, ready your workforce. Prepare a green-collar workforce by building green-collar job training partnerships to identify and meet workforce training needs, and by creating green pathways out of poverty that focus on recruitment, job readiness, job training, and job placement for low-income residents.

And fourth, build on your successes. Leverage your program's success to build political support for new and bolder policies and initiatives.

Does Bob Hagan have a guideline or approach?

Sincerely,

Dennis S. Spisak-Independent Green Party Candidate for State Representative-60th District

campaign site: http://votespisak.tripod.com