In keeping with the steady stream of recent reports indicating that green jobs training programs offering to educate students and the future alternative energy workforce in skills pertaining to green construction, solar energy, and wind energy, the New Mexico Business Weekly and the New Mexico Independent have both recently ran stories on brand new programs of this sort sprouting up at New Mexico institutions of higher learning.

According to both papers, several New Mexico community colleges will receive $2 million in grant money as part of the Obama administration’s program in conjunction with the United States Department of Labor to cultivate the training of workers in green jobs areas. More specifically, the funding falls under the State Energy Sector Partnership Program, or SESP, which is bracketed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and is described by the New Mexico Independent as a “three year, six-million dollar bundle of funds.”

The three community colleges that will receive the grant money are Tucumcari’s Mesalands Community College, the Central New Mexico Community College, and the Santa Fe Community College. All three institutions will now receive the opportunity to develop curriculum and programs in areas ranging from the larger sectors mentioned previously—wind and solar energy—to research into biofuels and energy efficient practices.

According to the Independent, the state of New Mexico is one of the top states for green jobs, offering many in the solar energy industry. In recent years, several solar power firms have provided thousands of jobs across the state.

For more news about this development, please visit: http://newmexicoindependent.com/71870/green-job-funds-coming-to-new-mexico-community-colleges

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Recent announcements from various green job industry related websites indicate that the wind energy subsidiary of BP has made public its long term plans to construct a wind farm across 66,000 acres in Kansas, which will provide significant amounts of green energy to the surrounding areas. In doing so, BP states, 500 transitional green construction jobs will be created, and—once the construction of the structure has been completed—30 permanent wind energy jobs will be established across the area that the wind farm inhabits.

The facility, which is to be known as the Flat Ridge 2 wind farm, will not only constitute various structures over 66,000 acres, but also four counties. The wind farm costs $800 million to build, and will be capable of producing an output totaling 419 megawatts.

According to SustainableBusiness.com, a website focusing on news pertaining to green construction, green jobs, and green businesses, the Flat Ridge 2 wind energy farm follows its serial predecessor, Flat Ridge 1, another similar facility based out of Barber County in Kansas.

According to the BP Wind Energy Chief Executive Officer, John Graham, the state of Kansas was chosen specifically for a number of reasons, including what is seen as the state’s “pro-wind business climate,” according to SustainableBusiness.com.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback recently commented on the effectiveness of tax credits in keeping businesses growing in the state.

“It really buys down the price of the wind power. It’s key for the state of Kansas if we want to continue to develop wind energy,” the Wichita Eagle quotes Brownback as saying. Although the costs and prices of wind are falling as the industry grows and technology improves, it’s not competitive yet.

To read more, please visit SustainableBusiness.com at: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22996

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According to news releases put out recently by the journalistic staff of the Lake County Sun-Times, a major development has been made for the state of Illinois in the area of green careers and the cultivation of a workforce for burgeoning green industries: the United States Department of Labor has allocated a grant of nearly $20 million to seventeen participating community college institutions throughout the state.

These include the College of Lake County, which is cited by the news staff of the Lake County Sun-Times as the institution that submitted the proposal which represented the corpus of seventeen colleges. The staff notes that the money, which will fund the creation and maintenance of green jobs programs dedicated to instilling individuals with the skills necessary to viably pursue green careers in various industries, such as wind energy and solar energy, comprises one part of more than $500 million allocated via grants from the Department of Labor and the Department of Education. Particularly, the money is aimed to promote “workforce development for economically dislocated workers who are changing careers.”

The College of Lake County intends to creative “comprehensive job training programs” in industrial locations that have been affected by outsourcing, or the moving of jobs overseas. Utilizing a combination of classroom methodology and instruction with online educational tools, the collection of seventeen colleges hope to pioneer a pilot program for green jobs seekers that can then be exported to the rest of the state. Among the areas where individuals may be able to focus or specialize their skills, the Sun-Times reports, include green construction, green manufacturing, green transportation, and green architecture, among others.

For more information about the development of public green jobs education programs in Illinois, please visit: http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/7894075-418/clc-snares-green-jobs-federal-grant-worth-6m.html

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Last week, the Green Jobs Ready blog featured coverage of a New York school district making headway in the area of alternative energy innovation by utilizing wind energy as a source of power. As it turns out, they’re not the only ones who have realized the potential of renewable resources to alleviate the expensive costs of traditional forms of energy in addition to helping restore and preserve the earth’s environment.

According to news coverage via alternative energy news agencies and outlets such as BrighterEnergy.org, the United States Department of Energy has recently completed the finalization procedures to approve a $102 million loan guarantee to enact the erection of a wind power project in the central Maine area—more specifically, the Record Hill wind project, which is cited by BrighterEnergy.org as having the capacity to produce 50.6 megawatts of wind power with “an eight mile transmission line and associated interconnection equipment near the town of Roxbury, Maine.”

The wind power facilities will be developed and managed by the wind power firm Wagner Wind Energy I and Independence Wind LLC, the latter which finds its home base in Maine, further cultivating the green jobs culture there and enabling individuals to work fruitfully in environmentally friendly industries.

United States Energy Secretary Steven Chu had some words of support for the project: “This innovative project creates jobs in Maine while boosting domestic wind generation in order to achieve the Administration’s goal of doubling clean energy produced in America by 2035,” he is quoted as saying. “Clean energy is a major driver of American competitiveness, and investments like these are essential to secure our position as global leader.”

For more information, please visit: http://www.brighterenergy.org/25959/news/wind/doe-finalizes-102m-loan-for-maine-wind-project/

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According to recent journalistic coverage in the clean energy and green jobs related blog BrighterEnergy.org, the LaFargeville Central School District, located in New York, is set to install a wind turbine capable of producing clean wind energy in order to power the facilities employed in purposes for kindergarten through 12^th grade education.

Sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the LaFargeville Central School District’s project is the major goal of a clean energy program put in place by the overall district and set to culminate in two years. The turbine is set to cost $110,000. Currently, the district is nearing the completion of a similar project located in Jefferson County: a wind turbine capable of producing nine kilowatts of power for its own school facilities, also sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Experts estimate that the installation of wind power turbines, in combination with the usage of energy supplied by pre-existing solar power resources such as photovoltaic cells, the school will be able to glean roughly four percent of its total energy usage from alternative energy sources.

Francis J. Murray Jr., the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is quoted in the article as expressing positive thoughts regarding the operation. “By installing a wind turbine and photovoltaic cells, the LaFargeville School District is teaching its students that renewable resources are more than just a concept,” he is quoted as saying. “Students can see with their own eyes how wind and solar energy can produce electricity. NYSERDA is proud to help the district reduce its electric bill while sharing our clean-energy message with the next generation.”

For more information, please visit: http://www.brighterenergy.org/25854/news/wind/new-york-school-district-to-generate-own-wind-power/

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As the market for not only electric and clean-energy vehicles but more fuel-efficient vehicles in general grows, the demand for workers to produce parts for those vehicles increases correspondingly. It’s common sense, of course, but a new report recently issued by landmark conservation effort groups the National Wildlife Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council alongside the United Auto Workers has provided hard figures to back up the facts.

The recent report articulated that over 151,000 American individuals are currently employed in various enterprises involving some aspect of the manufacturing of components for automobiles and trucks that utilize limited fossil fuel resources more in a more efficient capacity. Among these thousands, nearly 40,000 workers reside in the state of Michigan, the area that the study designated as the hottest for “green” auto jobs; these employees use their expertise to contribute to the growth of green technologies and clean energy solutions. Among these include the Johnson Controls Inc. facility in Holland, Michigan, which focuses on the production of batteries—a facility which secured $300 million in stimulus dollars, money that may easily be used to employ roughly 550 people in green jobs.

In an article by journalist David Shepardson for the Detroit News Washington Bureau, Peter Lehner, the executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, expressed opinions that confirmed the researched trends. “The reality is that cleaner vehicles have already led to more jobs,” he is quoted as saying. “Our report shows how strong fuel efficiency standards have employed people nationwide, so stronger standards will certainly mean even more job growth in the future.”

For more information, please visit: http://www.detnews.com/article/20110810/AUTO01/108100361/1148/Study–Auto-industry-home-to-151-000–green–job

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According to recent coverage by journalist Mark Clayton for the Christian Science Monitor, the “detailed statistics” provided by the Brookings Institution and the Battelle Technology Partnership are paving the way for more in-depth examination of the United States’s burgeoning green industries, including not only numerical analysis of the country’s growth in terms of jobs but also on the sector level, as well.

Today, Clayton reports, the information provided by the Brookings Institution and the Battelle Technoloy Partnership indicates that the number of green jobs held by Americans now outweighs the number of gas and oil-related jobs in those industries.  The “clean-economy sector” possesses a total of 2.7 million jobs in comparison to the 2.4 million jobs in the industries that provide a majority of the energy used by Americans today.

Additional information from the American Petroleum institute locates the number of “direct jobs” in oil and gas industries at around 2.1 million, and the studies have specified that the biosciences industry—a sizable portion of which is dedicated to green and alternative energy solutions, including the development of biofuels—currently supports 1.4 million jobs. All of these areas, however, continue to change and grow.

Of note in the Brookings Institution and Battelle Technology Partnership data is the fact that hundreds of thousands of “green jobs” exist in conservation and public mass transit, more so than the number of jobs provided by the wind and solar power industries combined.

Government-mandated green technologies, such as the 12,500 jobs created by the 2007 light bulb standards adopted then by Congress, have also contributed to the growth of both the green economy and the nation’s economy at large.

For more information, please read Clayton’s article at the Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2011/0718/Report-More-Americans-have-green-jobs-than-oil-or-gas-jobs

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More news on the comprehensive report from the Brookings Institution on the growth of green jobs in the United States economy from the environmental and alternative energy industry blog EarthTechling: according to the Brookings Institution’s recent findings, which include delineations of the categories that constitute “green jobs” for practical and statistical purposes, roughly 2.7 million American are employed in verifiable green industries.

The study, entitled “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment,” was recently released to much anticipation from environmentally conscious communities in addition to those employed as workers or managers at such outlets as solar plants, wind power operations, or any other green job related to the eventual production of clean, renewable energy.

Some interesting points of note include the observation that despite the fact the green jobs economy grew at a rate slower than that of the “overall nation economy” in the seven years from 2003 to 2010, “newer clean tech market segments,” such as biofuel and solar cell manufacturing industries, have accounted for much of the rapid growth of green industries.

The Brookings Institution’s study also indicated that over one quarter of alternative and renewable energy jobs lie in the manufacturing of pertinent components, and that these components are exported “at double the rate national rate of other products.”

To learn more about the institution’s findings, or to find out what the study reveals about your place in the green jobs market and economy, please visit: http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/07/clean-tech-economy-defined-by-brookings/

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Recent coverage by NewsChannel5.com journalist Amanda Hara points toward a marked increase in green jobs pertaining to various industries, including alternative and renewable and energy industries, in the city of Nashville, Tennessee—a trend correlating with the progress made in the area of green jobs by many other major American metropolitan areas as well.

Hara and NewsChannel5.com cite a study recently released from the Brookings Institution which stipulates various rankings and reports pertaining to the growth of green industries. According to the institution, Nashville—or Music City, as it is known—was ranked in eleventh place in a nationwide scale of green job growth and creation. According to the report, for the four years between 2003 and 2007, Nashville cultivated the creation of 6,702 green jobs, which pay roughly $38,000 a year according to Hara, which amounts to “$3,000 more than Nashville’s average median wage.”

Citing Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Hara indicates that local politicians have striven for many years toward fostering the growth of the green economy in Nashville. For instance, local leaders have introduced several new LEED Certified buildings into the area.

“We’ve done a lot of work on open space. We’ve done a lot of work on energy conservation so I think Nashville is moving in the right direction. I’d like to see us in the top ten but we’re moving in the right direction,” Mayor Karl Dean is quoted by Amanda Hara as saying.

Matt Kreske, the owner of Gardens of Babylon, a Nashville-based organic nursery, mentioned how his company has grown over the past few years.

“I would say over the last three years on average would be a 15 to 30 percent increase over the last three years,” Kreske said, according to Hara.

For more information, please visit: http://www.newschannel5.com/story/15077792/nashville-ranked-high-for-green-jobs

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According to recent news coverage regarding the ever-expanding market for green jobs in the United States by SustainableBusiness.com, the BlueGreen and Alliance and the Apollo Alliance—described by SustainableBusiness.com as “two of the nation’s most active green jobs advocacy groups”—are in the process of merging into one entity.

Although the two groups will now share one collective identity as the BlueGreen Alliance, they will not deviate from their current work of lobbying in Washington, D.C. for the creation of new and sustainable jobs in various renewable energy industries across the nation.

The BlueGreen Alliance was launched in 2006 as a joint effort by the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers. Today, the BlueGreen Alliance contains a total of ten United States labor unions and four associations noted as “America’s most influential environmental organizations,” and the 14 million followers those organizations possess.

The Apollo Alliance precedes the BlueGreen Alliance in age by three or so years, being founded in 2003. The Apollo Alliance continually works toward the creation and preservation of the country’s rapidly growing green jobs economy and market.

For more information about this landmark step forward in green jobs advocacy, please visit: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22475

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