However, is it changing its stance out of international moral pressure or a major financial incentive (recent deal) in the US? And who is to benefit the most from this shift?

Read more of this story »

In my last post, “Soulcraft and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The Demise of Shop Classes,” I discussed Matthew B. Crawford’s recent book, Shop Class as Soulcraft, in which he examines the consequences of the disappearance of high school shop.

Crawford acknowledges that community colleges to some extent are able to “salvage” the lack of high school shop. This is certainly true as you may read in my post, “Green Technology at Your Community College.” CCs are providing an essential service to the workforce. Government studies show that the highest paying jobs, especially green jobs, will come from the CCs. ( Jessica Milano and Conor McKay at the Democratic Leadership Council. San Jose Mercury News.)

Read more of this story »

 In his book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Mathew B. Crawford, tells how he discovered that he could not get a meaningful job with his advanced degree—a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Chicago.

He worked for a while in a cubical as an indexer abstracter making $23,000 a year and at another time as a SAT tutor making $15 an hour. Crawford finally found satisfaction as a “gearhead” fixing motorcycles.

Crawford laments the loss of high school shop classes, and the misinformed notion that schools must produce “knowledge worker,” by preparing students for four-year programs. According to Crawford, three-forth of high school shop classes in California have disappeared since the 1980s. He sees the present system turning out an army of clerks that he likens to the Dilbert cartoon. 

Read more of this story »

Okay, so we’re at nearly 10 percent unemployment nationally (if you believe the Federal numbers), so many people are without a steady stream of bi-monthly paychecks. Yet, 90 percent of Americans who had a job when the economy tanked, still do. But for some that means being a wage serf, cubicle clone or working in the Dilbert world of dysfunctional corporate America – working hard to make someone else richer (and often, with ecological impacts). There’s too many CEO bonuses and none for the employees who clean the counters, work on the assembly lines (ideally making hybrid vehicles), or take care of customers. The vast majority of education system continues to be committed to helping people find jobs, not make a sustainble life, especially one that doesn’t destroy the planet or exploit people (though more are starting “sustainability curricula”).

What we need is less of an emphasis on transforming less-green jobs to more-green jobs for the plethora of job seekers. There’s nothing wrong with getting a job (there are a few great companies, some that even offer employee ownership and stock, in addition to addressing the development needs of their workforce).

But if you want to gain an upper hand on life, more self-employed or self-owned enterprises are discovered that you can keep more of your hard-earned money by working for yourself. As I write about in ECOpreneuring, doing so allows you to also reinvest our profits in ways that either restore the planet and/or improve the well being of people living in our community, nation and planet. These businesses have a triple bottom line and many have ditched the commute to some office, working, instead, from a home office.

Read more of this story »

Mass production has been used since the industrial revolution as a means of creating large quantities of standardized products. It has many advantages over one-at-a-time production. It reduces coast and provide interchangeable parts.  Its disadvantages are that it can over produce and it dehumanizes labor.

Mass production will often continue to build inventory in spite of an economic slump. Large inventories can lead to massive layoffs. Unemployment reduces consumption and a viscous circle ensues.

Read more of this story »

Read more of this story »

Are you looking for a green job?  Or a job in corporate social responsibility and sustainable business?  Well, all you need to do is Twitter.  “Green” recruiters understand the best way to reach the new generation of “green” talent is via social media…Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, Flickr, YouTube and of course, Twitter.  So fire up your laptop and hop on Twitter.  Who knows?  You may find a career that aligns with your life’s passion.

Read more of this story »

The Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT) cites the case of a widowed public school teacher that retired with a $900 monthly pension. She would have been eligible to receive $600 survivor benefits based on her husband’s Social Security contribution, but the windfall elimination provision (WEP) eliminated all of her survivor benefits. What is WEP?

The Reagan administration believed that reducing taxes would boost the economy. According to this “supply side” economic theory, less tax meant more profits, which would be plowed back into in to the private sector creating jobs and goods. The theory didn’t work and the deficit soared.

The administration looked for “revenue enhancements” that wouldn’t look like taxes (at least not taxes on business) to buy time for its theory to work. Social Security became a target of this quest. Especially, Social Security benefits received by public employees.

Read more of this story »

According to the title of an article published in The City of Lancaster’s Outlook (Fall 2009) magazine “The Future Looks Bright for Solar Power in Lancaster”.

My small town,  all 475,000 of us, are at the forefront of solar energy! On August 5, 2009, eSolar unveiled the 5 MW (mega watt) demonstration plant known as Sierra SunTower. The solar power plant has 24,000 mirrors and two giant tower house boilers. The boilers create what’s known as “thermal solar” which is said to be more cost-effective than the standard photovoltaic approach used in solar cells. The process creates steam to drive the turbine generators. The project was completed in 14 month time frame and has already begun to distribute power to Southern California Edison.

eSolar’s site says “Sierra SunTower will supply 5 MW of clean, renewable energy to the grid. This full-scale power plant, the only one of its kind in the U.S., produces electricity for Southern California Edison (SCE) and will power up to 4,000 homes.”

Read more of this story »

New 30% tax credit for advanced energy manufacturing industries

The Department of Energy on Thursday released the details of a new $2.3 billion manufacturing tax credit, enacted earlier this year as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The tax credit of 30% is for investment in new renewable energy manufacturing facilities and re-equipped or expanded facilities.

The idea behind the stimulus is to grow the domestic manufacturing industry for clean energy, stimulating economic growth, creating jobs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building a long-term strategy for addressing them.

Read more of this story »

What he does “for fun” is use these same storytelling techniques to record history and facilitate conversation on the very real and complex issues of our day – struggles that have become storytelling lore but have real implications for inspiring change. He calls this experimental effort The Dilemmas Project, a multi-media platform for engaging citizen participation around the ongoing dilemmas ordinary people are facing every day.

Read more of this story »

During the last presidential election, both candidates promised some form of “national service.” While neither was specific, they seemed to favor some form of domestic Peace Corps perhaps by expanding AmeriCorps. Neither candidate was specific about the goals of national service. If one of the goals is to bring people into the workplace then perhaps OJT coupled to work-studies (co-op) may be the answer.

William James coined the term “national service” in his essay, “The Moral Equivalent of War.” According to James, mandatory service could teach peace and democratic values. John Dewey argued that democratic values could not be taught by authoritarianism

Read more of this story »

The US hasn’t had a draft since 1973. The last time a draft bill was introduced before Congress was in 2003 during the Iraqi War. It was unanimously defeated. Even its author voted against it. So why are men denied government jobs or college loans because they neglected or refused to register with the Selective Service System?

The function of the Selective Service is just to collect names. It serves no other purpose. It doesn’t provide names to military recruiters or provide recruitment information to registrants. It does provide severe penalties for none compliance.

Failing to register through negligence or intention can ban men from government jobs, college loans and even college. What is really amazing is that this life sentence is irrevocable.

Read more of this story »

There’s a bit of money, too, totaling about $100,000 from the federal stimulus package, aka the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Great Lakes Commission has been granted $99,740 to develop a set of “Best Practices to Accelerate Wind Power in the Great Lakes and Beyond.”

The end result will be a guide to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to protecting the environment, being sensitive to community concerns and … building wind turbines in the water.

Read more of this story »

That’s the question that is now on many peoples’ minds. Comment threads on popular Peruvian and expatriate websites show a diversity of opinions. Some people think a Disney theme park would be great for providing jobs in a country that needs them, while others think it would amount to exploitation.

Read more of this story »

Yes, even the wind power is bigger in Texas. The Lone Star State held the top spot again in the just released American Wind Energy Association’s annual industry report.

In fact, if Texas was its own country it would rank sixth worldwide in production, with 7,118 megawatts installed. Texas added 2,671 MW just last year.

The AWEA report breaks down a record 2008 for wind power in the U.S. The U.S. now ranks ahead of Germany as the world’s top wind power producer. More than 8,500 MW of wind power came online last year, the report says, a more than 50 percent jump in U.S. production.

Read more of this story »

Wind turbine manufacturer Global Wind Systems announced today that it will be hiring 250 new employees to work in the company’s new wind turbine assembly plant in Novi, Michigan, thirty miles west of Detroit. The news brings a ray of hope for a regional economy struggle under the weight of a sinking auto industry.

In December, Global Wind Systems received $7.3 million in tax credits from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority in December to create 256 direct jobs over six years. Founder and CEO of Global Wind Systems, Chris Long told the Detroit News that he hopes to almost double that number of jobs in just two years.

Read more of this story »

Laurence Summers—head of the National Economic Council—responded to criticism of the Geithner Plan, “I don’t know of any economist who doesn’t believe that functioning capital markets in which assists can be traded are a good idea.” Economist Paul Krugman responded (NYT) saying that if Summers believe that bribing traders to participate is “better functioning” then Summers should get out more. Many economists believe that this plan could be disastrous.

The Plan would auction bad mortgages held by banks. The government would join the highest bidder with an equal purchase and provide a loan to the bidder up to 85% of the bid. The loan is supposed to provide leverage such that small upward movements will bring large gains to the speculator. According to Summers and Geithner, such auctions will determine their “fair” market value.

Of course small movements downward will bring loss to the speculator as well as the taxpayer, but the speculator can count on the government to do all it can to jack up home prices. Many economist, financers, and bankers have found the Plan disastrous.

Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning (2008) economist, challenges the notion that such an auction will determine fair value as “market mystique.” He analyzes the arithmetic of the Plan and shows that it’s just another attempt to subsidize the real estate industry and mortgage bankers.

Read more of this story »