Government’s Green Blush
ENERGY STAR for Buildings – as explained
by Reed Construction Data, including this: “The certification process for
an ENERGY STAR label is fairly streamlined.”
ENERGY STAR honors for firms – companies honored, GreenerBuildings.com
reported,
include Ford, Johnson Controls, Lowe’s, Panasonic, Sears, and Servidyne.
Osram’s award – 2010 Energy Star Sustained Excellence. Release.
National retrofit program building blocks – they are, the Alliance
to Save Energy claimed,
HOME STAR and Building STAR (they were proposals, as of 2/11).
Next Generation Luminaires winners – the best-in-class design
winners, DoE
said, were Finelite, Inc.; SPILighting Inc.; GE Lighting Solutions, and
Wide-Lite (Philips).
Green Jobs, Etc.
Arizona – an Arizona Republic article
about a school teaching installers about solar PV included this factolito:
“ . . . jobs in Arizona's clean-energy economy grew about 21 percent to 11,500
in 2007 from roughly 9,500 in 1998.”
Energy Secretary Chu on jobs – we have to get moving, he said
(according
to AP), warning “that China's investment of $9 billion per month to diversify
energy sources away from coal far exceeds America's spending.”
Green job training grant – $1.5M from the Green Jobs Program
(U.S. Dept. of Labor) to two eastern Idaho colleges, according to Idaho
State U.
HOME STAR advocated – by the Alliance to Save Energy, which noted
that it would be good for homeowners and job seekers.
Huge job-creating potential – from USA
Today: “Nationwide, 274,000 jobs would be created in the wind, solar,
hydropower, biomass and waste-to-energy industries by 2025 if a 25% standard
is adopted, says research firm Navigant Consulting. Those sectors now support
about 196,000 jobs.”
‘Hundreds of wind power jobs coming to WI’ – a new wind/solar
component plant (owned by Ingeteam) will open soon in Milwaukee, WisBusiness
reported.
Myth – green jobs are a myth, according to Sunil Sharan, writing
in
the 2/26 Washington Post. The conclusion: “For the purpose
of creating jobs, then, a ‘clean-energy economy’ will not offer a panacea .
. . But those who take great pains to tout the ‘job-creation potential’ of
the green space might just end up inducing labor pains all around.”
Political perspective on green jobs – a Heritage Foundation
blog
weighs in on green jobs, concluding: “Losing jobs through increases in efficiency
and productivity is a sign of progress. Losing jobs through government mandates
and subsidies is a sign of Congress.”