Goal For The Green

Para-education and green living information

Where Are Those “Green” Jobs?

Aug-21-2010 By Barbara Zak
A National Institutes of Energy
Image by Third Way via Flickr

During those early days, of the Obama administration, environmentalists believed, they had found the message to carry them to victory.  The stage was set, on what promised to be a grueling debate, over energy and climate policy. The topic was, and still is this: At a time of soaring unemployment, (which is still the case), a climate bill, would create thousands, or millions of new “clean energy, or green” jobs.  So, where are these jobs?  You may have noticed signs, along the road, in your area, stating, where your tax dollars are going.  Funny, thing is, the money was spent on the signs, not on fixing the ROADS.  So much, for our stimulus dollars at work,  but NOT, our people being EMPLOYED!

Climate activists spent 18 months, and millions of dollars, Read the rest of this entry »

Put Your Green Boots On The Roof !

Jun-25-2009 By Barbara Zak

My first post of the year was entitled “There’s Green Boot On The Roof.” At Boots On The Roof, they offer various solar training bootcamps for electricians and entrepreneurs interested in starting their own solar business, or updating their skills and becoming solar certified.

Boots on the Roof, delivers top-quality market-ready training programs for solar energy industry professionals.  They are the solar energy training division of Unitek Education, a long-time national Learning Partner of high-tech companies (having received the highest education honors awarded by Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, & RedHat).  Their team has a 16-year track record of successfully partnering with large organizations to train tens of thousands of students nationwide.

Boots On The Roof, has become the premier Wind and Solar training provider in the United States.  They are making it their mission to train the next wave of Renewable Energy Contractors, Architects, Engineers, Sales Professionals, and Business Entreprenuers.

The courses offered, are optimized for the various fields and professions listed above. They are also beneficial to home-improvement contractors, looking to add Solar/Wind applications to their existing services offered.  Feel free to call and discuss  with their capable staff, what your goals are, and what classes can best benefit you and your situation.

Your tuition fee includes your instruction materials, textbook, examination fee and labs.  If you are not local, a susidized travel package that includes your hotel stay, free shuttle to/from the airport, and breakfast and lunch on all the days of your boot camp is available.

If you absolutely, can not travel to the Northern California or NewYork/New Jersey campuses, you can take the Boots On The Roof online course instead.  However, nothing can compare to the hands on labs, lectures, and classroom activites offered.  Here is what  alumni are saying about their experiences with courses offered at Boots On The Roof.

So, whether you are attending the 6DaySolar PV BootCamp, or any of the courses offered at Boots On the Roof, you are assured you are getting the best and most current training and certification available in the area of Renewable Energy.  Working toward a better tomorrow, and a brighter future.

See where the cutest ladybugs live!

We all know that America needs to become energy independent.  However, there isn’t a clear vision for achieving that goal, and no real clear cut plan either.  Here are ten steps we could make toward achieving energy freedom.

1.  There are 10 foreign government run oil companies that are much larger and have greater oil reserves than our Exxon Mobil. So, we need to quit blaming “big oil” here at home.  Even if they did make a record profit of $12 billion in less than 90 days.

2.  Congress and lawmakers should address or own domestic supply and production problems. If they increased our supply from our own sources and reserves, it could have an impact on the price we pay at the pump.

3.  We can make a difference by turning off lights at home, when not in use.  We can also save gas instead of time by slowing down our driving speed.  We can also save energy by keeping our thermostats set at 68 in the winter and 75 in the summer.

4.  Remember when grandma use to hang clothes out on the line and how nice and fresh they smelled? Or how about installing rain barrels to water the lawn instead of pumping water from the well.  If you aren’t on a well system, you can conserve water by using drip or soaker hoses.

5.  There must be a determination in this country to develop alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal technology.  There is is no room for the NIMBY (not in my backyard) attitude.  This only slows progress that needs to happen.

6.  We need to build and reopen nuclear plants.  France gets 77% of its energy from nuclear sources.  We need to follow what they have learned in regard to safe usage of nuclear power and the recycling of nuclear waste.

7.  We should increase hydroelectric power in states where it is plentiful.  There should also be an environmental push to increase the survival rate of young salmon migrating to the Pacific regions

8.  If we develop and deploy our environmental cleanup strategies to developing economic powers such as China India and others, they could generate electricity from their abundant coal reserves.  This would drastically reduce air and water pollution in those countries, and make their people healthier.  Taking this step would also provide new markets for our American companies and create new jobs.

9  We need to produce more of our own oil and natural gas, while other technology and alternatives are being developed.  There is enough domestic natural gas offshore to supply the United States for the next 10 years easily.  The production technology is much safer than it was 30 plus years ago.  There are 109 offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that were directly hit during Hurricane Katrina without causing a significant spill.

10.  It will take patience and common since, as well as time and money to transform new technology and find new sources of energy.  The solutions won’t happen overnight, however, we need a dedicated government to get behind these issues and make sure these changes happen in a timely fashion.