Thursday, September 25, 2008

Peril & Hope

Wall Street Scam- The financial sector bailout soap opera kicked into high gear yesterday. Some highlights: McShame taking his ball and going home after suspending his campaign…House Republicans doing in their own President’s plan…Comrade Bernanke stating we can not pay “fire sale prices” for Wall Street’s toxic junk being purchased by taxpayers, meanwhile Warren Buffet gets Grade A shares of Goldman Sachs and a 10% dividend on his investments.

Green Economy & Jobs- The United Nations Environment Programme in association with The Worldwatch Institute and Cornell University Global Labour Institute issued a report on “green” jobs in a new clean energy world. I will render my comments once I have had the time to read thoroughly, but you can read for yourself here:

The report “Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World” produced in the framework of the UNEP/ILO/IOE/ITUC Green Jobs Initiative assembles evidence - quantitative and conceptual - on existing green jobs.

The report Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World is the first comprehensive and authoritative report which provides an overview of the complexity and policy relevance of global environmental challenges —climate change— and employment.

It gathers data on employment on different sectors —renewable energy, energy efficiency in buildings, sustainable transportation, and organic agriculture— and draws conclusions and recommendations for policy makers, business and industry, workers and trade unions in the context of the transition towards a low-carbon economy, which may yield a real potential, and yet is faced with formidable challenges

The pace of green job creation is likely to accelerate in the years ahead. A global transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy can create large numbers of green jobs across many sectors of the economy, and indeed can become an engine of development. Current green job creation is taking place in both the rich countries and in some of the major developing economies.

The report emphasizes the need for increased investment to create green jobs, facilitate the just transition from traditional to low-carbon economy, and further analyses the major shifts in employments and skills patterns

The Report makes an important contribution to the wider economic, social and environmental research communities and NGOs and others, including local authorities interested in these issues.

Green Gym- A new gym in Portland, Oregon has some of it's cardio equipment, which includes remanufactured machines hooked up to a generator so you create your own energy in powering a LCD TV, laptop and the gym's stereo. Entreprenuer Adam Boesel opened the Green Microgym last month. Additionally, the club will be installing wall-mounted solar panels and claims its best feature is being a neighborhood gym where none of its customers drive.
Source: NY Times

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