Continuing our post from yesterday from Wall ST Report

Helping to create new, green jobs is a big part of our mission.  To help make this happen, our show seeded a clean energy fund (and efficiency fund) in New England which is in the process of raising 14m of debt and equity to launch, by year 3, 25m a year in solar, wind, hydro and fuel cell projects.

We also just invested money into RI's best know accelerator as they give birth to new, innovative, companies here and throughout the region.  We also applied to National Grid for permission to build a 3meg solar site close to the solar system we installed on our rooftop (175kw system).

All of which stirs clean, economic development.  We hope, even on a very small scale, you are doing the same.

Let's finish this story and post:

...24/7 Wall St. examined the BLS report to identify the 10 states with the greatest number of green jobs as a percentage of total jobs in the state. Green jobs are those found “in businesses that produce goods and provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.” Data on green job growth by state from 2003 to 2010 were taken from the Brookings Institution’s “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment.”

These are the states where green jobs thrive.

1. Vermont

•  Green jobs as percentage of total: 4.4 percent
•  Green jobs in private sector as percentage of total: 3.9 percent
•  Unemployment rate: 5.0 percent

Vermont is the country’s largest center for green job employment relative to its entire workforce by a substantial margin. Additionally, of the nearly 13,000 green jobs in the state, more than 9,000 are in the private sector. The state’s primary sectors of employment are organic food production and farming and, to a lesser extent, green building materials. It is not clear whether Vermont will maintain its position as the nation’s green leader. Job growth in the clean economy has increased at a slower rate than the national level between 2003 and 2010.

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2. Idaho

•  Green jobs as percentage of total: 3.7 percent
•  Green jobs in private sector as percentage of total: 2.8 percent
•  Unemployment rate: 8.1 percent

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Idaho is another state with a large amount of land -- nearly 67 percent -- owned by either the state or federal government. The largest segment of the state’s clean economy is conservation, followed by the production of energy-saving building materials and hydropower. A few of the state’s major green companies are Boise Cascade, Power Engineers and Windsor Window.

3. Alaska

•  Green jobs as percentage of total: 3.6 percent
•  Green jobs in private sector as percentage of total: 2.8 percent
•  Unemployment rate: 7.2 percent

More than 89 percent of Alaska is owned by federal and state governments. Not only does the state’s clean economy account for a particularly large share of total employment, but its job growth rate from 2003 to 2010 has been significantly greater than the national average. The largest segment in the state’s green economy is by far conservation, as it employs more than five times the people as the second-largest segment. Major employers include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

4. Maryland

•  Green jobs as percentage of total: 3.6 percent
•  Green jobs in private sector as percentage of total: 2.8 percent
•  Unemployment rate: 6.5 percent

Clean economy job growth in Maryland has largely mirrored that of the U.S. between 2003 and 2010. Waste management and treatment and conservation are the state’s largest green sectors. The fastest growing segment is solar energy, which has had a job growth rate of nearly 64 percent from 2003 to 2010. Some of the state’s major clean economy employers are environmental services companies Century Engineering, Kci Holdings and Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson.

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5. Montana

•  Green jobs as percentage of total: 3.5 percent
•  Green jobs in private sector as percentage of total: 2.4 percent
•  Unemployment rate: 6.5 percent

Montana has among the largest share of green jobs in the public sector. The state has a particularly large amount of public lands, such as state parks, which allow for a large amount of jobs in solar PV, or photovoltaic systems and hydropower. The largest clean economy sector, however, is conservation. Two of the state’s largest employers are the National Park Service and Forest Service.

Click here to read the rest of of the 10 states where green jobs thrive

Good article from Wall ST Report

On states where green job are booming.  Is yours one?

We will finish this tomorrow.

By Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St.

"The green economy often is cited as a key driver of the national economic recovery. At the very least, it is creating jobs. The total number of jobs related to green products and services in 2010 was 3.13 million, according to the first-ever green jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, to put things in perspective, these jobs accounted for only 2.4 percent of the country’s total employment that year.

In many states, jobs associated with the production of green goods and services represented a slightly larger share of employment. In 11 states, green jobs accounted for 3 percent or more of total jobs. Vermont had the highest proportion of clean economy jobs at 4.4 percent. Green jobs in these states are represented in many sectors, including manufacturing and construction.

Although the states with the greatest numbers of green jobs relative to total employment vary in many ways, they share several characteristics. Many of these states have among the highest rates of public land -- land owned by federal and state governments. Colorado, Idaho and Alaska have among the highest rates of public land in the country, which allows for conservation and conservation-related jobs to flourish.

The states with the highest proportion of green jobs also tend to have below-average unemployment rates. As of January 2012, the national unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent. Only one of the states with the most green jobs had a higher unemployment rate; two states had the same rate; and the remaining seven states had lower unemployment rates than the national average. Vermont had an unemployment rate of just 5 percent -- among the lowest in the country.

Of course, this is not to suggest that green jobs are improving the unemployment situation in these areas. Instead, these states may simply do a good job of promoting job growth in general -- including green jobs..."

From Inspire Green Newsletter

Great story on what the London Olympics just accomplished over the last 2 weeks.  We applaud their efforts, and look forward to an even better performance in Brazil:

"London Olympics 2012: Going Green is the new Gold

With 10,500 Olympic athletes and 4200 Paralympic athletes competing, and estimated 11million visitors, 21,000 journalists and around 200,000 staff members, there will be a lot of mouths to feed at the games, which in turn, means tons of packaging will be required.

With the eyes of the world set on London, the London Organizing committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) made a bold move:  Zero Waste

Instead of accepting almost certainty of PET bottles filling up trash cans and Styrofoam containers littering the land, London 2012 became the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to commit to a zero-waste-to-landfill target.

“While a handful of events and venues have achieved recycling performance of up to 50%, recycling rates are generally much lower (approximately 15%) and a significant amount of material either ends up in landfill or is sent for energy recovery,” LOCOG said.

Some of the environment-friendly schemes the organizers have planned include:
At the Olympic village, carbon emissions will be cut down by 50% and the entire project will be 25% more energy-efficient compared to current building regulations.
20% of the required energy for the Olympic Village and Park will be provided by renewable energy.
20% of the construction materials and around 90% of the demolished buildings will be recycled and/or reused."

Water used at the Olympic Village will be 20$ less than average.
30 km of new routes for walking and 50 km of new cycling tracks will be built.

The Olympic Games are meant to be a grand celebration of sportsmanship and human achievement by the international community, but they also give the host nation an opportunity to display their vision and organizational skills. This time, the organizers want the London 2012 Olympics to be the greenest in history.

For more info: 

http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/522256-London_Olympics_2012_Going_green_is_the_new_gold.php
http://www.olympicgames2012london.org/london2012olympicsgoinggreen.html

Enjoy the show and tour

Sorry for the change yesterday on the radio side

We had a great live show set up for yesterday on WARL 1320AM and Blog Talk, but our major guests cancelled late and we had no choice but to run the audio from a recent TV show.  We apologize for that.  We'll be back live promoting Green Fest in Boston next week.

In the meantime, here's some good reading on success stories within the green economy from the UN:

ou are: www.unep.org > Green Economy > Success Stories

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Success Stories

Collection of 8 stories

The economic analysis in the Green Economy Report builds in part on the encouraging signs and results of many initiatives around the world. A number of these come from developing countries, including emerging economies, and illustrate the positive benefits from specific green investments and policies, that if scaled up and integrated into a comprehensive strategy, could offer an alternative development path, one that is pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-poor. A limited selection from a growing range of experiences in different sectors, are summarized below, highlighting their economic, social and environmental benefits. While some represent established broad-based policies and investment programmes, others are newly initiated pilot projects. In this sense the collection underlines that a green economy strategy has established and proven examples on which to build. At the same time, some recent developments also illustrate the growing interest in seizing opportunities to move to a green economy.

We are interested in your own experience with success. Contact us if you have a story to tell.

	Organic Agriculture in Cuba Cuba’s transition to organic agriculture emerged as a necessary response to the food crisis that gripped the nation in the early 1990s. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and a longstanding trade embargo that severely constrained industrialised agricultural practices on the island, Cuban producers turned the declining availability of pesticides, fertilisers and petroleum into an opportunity to shift towards organic production with numerous environmental, social and economic gains.
	Solar Energy in Barbados Barbados’ overreliance on imported fossil fuels has become one of the island’s major environmental concerns. The Barbadian government’s National Strategic Plan of Barbados for 2006-25 is designed to rectify this dependency by increasing the country’s renewable energy supply, with a particular focus on raising the number of household solar water heaters by 50 per cent by 2025. Solar water heaters are now a widely used renewable energy technology in Barbados, with installations in nearly half of the island’s dwelling units.
	Waste Management in Republic of Korea Waste management and recycling in the Republic of Korea’s has not reduced waste generation, but has also encouraged reusing waste as an energy resource. Over the past years, targeted policies have significantly increased the recycling rate while creating thousands of jobs in an endeavour to build a Resource Recirculation Society.

Great stats this week from our radio partners Facebook page

This from WARL:  Congratulations to WARL for building a great and loyal audience

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Tomorrow's radio show on WARL 1320 and Blog Talk Radio

Has lots of variety and covers plenty of terrain.

First, we head up to Boston to update everyone on this year's GreenFest.  Have you been before?  If not, see  if you can get up this year this year.  Starts on Thursday night, Aug 16  and ends that Sunday.  In between the days are packed with events as the event works to build a better word.  Here's the link to their main page:http://www.bostongreenfest.org/

After that, we introduce you to the Worldwatch Institute and our special guest, Danielle Nierenberg – Senior Researcher, Food and Agriculture Program | Nourishing the Planet Director.  Danielle and the Institute have garnered world attention for their work on nourishing the planet, and we'll look at the economic impact of their work tomorrow.

We'll be on from 12-1p, EST, then you can listen to it 24/7 on the Renewable Now network on Blog Talk.

Right after that, we will film five new TV shows in Warwick RI,  Busy day.  If we miss a blog tomorrow, as we did Monday preparing for this week, we'll be back on Thursday.

Here's more on the Institute:  

Mission

Through research and outreach that inspire action, the Worldwatch Institute works to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world that meets human needs. The Institute’s top mission objectives are universal access to renewable energy and nutritious food, expansion of environmentally sound jobs and development, transformation of cultures from consumerism to sustainability, and an early end to population growth through healthy and intentional childbearing.

HISTORY

Founded in 1974 by Lester Brown as an independent research institute devoted to global environmental concerns, Worldwatch was quickly recognized by opinion leaders around the world for its foresight and accessible, fact-based analysis. Now under the leadership of population expert and author Robert Engelman, Worldwatch develops innovative solutions to intractable problems, emphasizing a blend of government leadership, private sector enterprise, and citizen action that can make a sustainable future a reality.