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Veterans to be trained for green jobs
Los Angeles Times
07/01/2009
Seventeen groups nationwide, including the Long Beach office of United States Veterans Initiative -- which will receive $500,000 -- have been awarded grants to train and find green jobs for veterans. The jobs include work associated with residential and commercial solar energy systems and wastewater treatment.
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Portland stores will sell Metro's recycled paint
Oregonian
06/29/2009
If that house color looks familiar, it may be for good reason. Portland's Miller Paint Co. recently announced an agreement with Metro to begin selling recycled latex house paint that has been collected at landfills.
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Boise firm starts work on 14 wind parks across S. Idaho
Boise Idaho Statesman
06/29/2009
Exergy Development Group will begin this summer to build 14 wind parks across southern Idaho that will produce 228 megawatts of electricity and put Idaho in the top 20 states for wind power.
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Green jobs perk up Oregon's work force
Oregonian
06/29/2009
Green jobs account for 3 percent of Oregon's private, state government and local government employment, the Oregon Employment Department said in a report released today.
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Climate bill shaped by compromise
Los Angeles Times
06/28/2009
President Obama's willingness to sit down with each group affected by a historic climate bill and compromise yielded a narrow victory in the House on Friday. The question is: did supporters give away so much in the process that the benefits to the environment ended up being slim to none?
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Obama praises climate bill's progress
Washington Post
06/28/2009
In an interview with a small group of energy reporters in the Oval Office, Obama brushed aside criticisms about compromises and savored last week's narrow victory in the House on one of his top domestic priorities: a climate bill designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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CA fingerprints all over climate policy
San Francisco Chronicle
06/28/2009
When California passed sweeping laws to fight global warming nearly three years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state politicians hoped the move would force a reluctant federal government to act. They got their wish.
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Clean energy funding roadblock ahead?
New York Times
06/29/2009
Since the economic crisis began last autumn, the once red-hot activity by wind and solar developers has slowed sharply. The U.S. government’s stimulus package is supposed to help support renewable energy, but what happens when the stimulus funding runs out, as it is scheduled to do for the industry’s projects in the next year or two?
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Starbucks unveils eco-friendly store designs
Seattle Times
06/26/2009
Starbucks is opening far fewer stores than it used to, and it has come up with a new formula for them. The chain of more than 16,000 stores wants its new locations to be environmentally friendly, to be made with local materials, and to have new looks that reflect their neighborhoods. The first example opened across the street from Pike Place Market in Seattle.
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Electric carmakers get multimillion boost
San Francisco Chronicle
06/23/2009
Tesla Motors, the Bay Area's luxury electric carmaker, won $465 million in federal loans today to build two plants in California, as the Obama administration started doling out funds for fuel-efficient vehicles. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has made creating "green jobs" a priority, welcomed it as a victory for California and the country
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Small BC cities creating vibrant downtowns
The Tyee
06/23/2009
Prince George's downtown development project began in 2008 when the city teamed up with Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG), an offshoot program of Smart Growth BC that seeks to help BC communities prepare more sustainable neighborhood plans. It looks at land use, transportation, urban design, and building design plans in small to mid-sized BC communities and develops new concept plans that encourage smarter development socially, environmentally, and economically.
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Oakland Green Job Corps grads get to work
San Francisco Chronicle
06/23/2009
More than 40 hammer-swinging, lumber-toting, drywall-nailing young people broke out the apple cider in Oakland on Monday to celebrate their graduation from one of the nation's first green-collar job training programs.
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Grays Harbor alt-energy funds blown by the wind
Aberdeen Daily World
06/22/2009
Once a vision of commercial scale, a project that would bring 90 wind turbines and wave energy converters to the region between Ocean Shores and Grayland has been scaled back.
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Eco-consultants help navigate green minefield
San Francisco Chronicle
06/23/2009
A loosely defined but emerging field of eco-consultants are filling a niche, somewhere between energy assessors who might suggest adding solar panels and insulation to interior designers focused on aesthetics.
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Startup's prefab homes aim for zero energy bills
San Francisco Chronicle
06/22/2009
Prefabricated housing seems an unlikely ally in the fight against climate change, but a new San Francisco company is setting out to construct factory-built homes that create as much energy as they use - reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with operating buildings.
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Growing their green way in Corvallis
Corvallis Gazette Times
06/22/2009
Earth Smart Store opens in downtown Corvallis with environmentally friendly wares.
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No country for old whiners
Oregonian
06/21/2009
Rather than complain about a 15-percent unemployment rate, Klamath County, OR, is applying its no-excuses ethic to economic sustainability. Geothermal energy already heats a spider-mite-growing greenhouse, a beer brewery and a college campus focused on medical technology training, adaptable agriculture and a greener timber industry.
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Green bills don't make the cut in OR
Oregonian
06/21/2009
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and advocates began this legislative session with a long list of green-friendly legislation that included making Oregon a world leader in combating global warming. Instead, despite a Democratic Legislature, they've seen their plans crumble in the face of a poor economy and determined business opposition.
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'Green' claims by marketers go unchecked
USA Today
06/21/2009
The federal watchdog that's supposed to crack down on product labels that make false environmental claims has taken almost no enforcement action over the last decade, even as "green" marketing claims have exploded, agency records show.
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OR leads nation in clean-energy jobs - at 1 percent
Oregonian
06/17/2009
Oregon ranks higher than any other state in its percentage of clean-energy jobs, according to information released today by the Pew Charitable Trusts. One percent of Oregon jobs, 19,340 jobs, were in the clean-energy sector in 2007, according to the Washington DC-based environmental organization.
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New hydrogen-powered city car takes to the road
New Scientist
06/16/2009
The small, light vehicle is powered by a fuel cell that combines hydrogen with oxygen from the air to release energy and nothing more toxic than water.
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Fiat gets EU loan to develop greener cars
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/16/2009
Italian car maker Fiat SpA on Tuesday got a 400-million Euro ($630-million) loan from the EU-government backed European Investment Bank to help it develop more fuel-efficient cars.
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Six green feet under
Kitsap Sun
06/14/2009
A host of services and products is being rolled out for what some local funeral directors expect will be a growing demand for earth-friendly funerals in which bodies are allowed to more easily biodegrade underground.
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Eco-friendly dry cleaning? It's in the bag
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/14/2009
As many “green" dry cleaners are switching to less toxic cleaning agents and closed-loop systems that minimize waste, another culprit is being targeted. Here's a hint: It's filmy, repels water and is a suffocation risk for children.
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Green jobs brighten dim OR economy
Bend Bulletin
06/14/2009
Solar. Wind. Water. Geothermal, biomass and even garbage. With all these opportunities, it’s no wonder Oregon leads the nation in clean energy. And based on the number of alternative energy firms sprouting up in Central Oregon, it seems only natural that growth in green jobs has far outpaced the national average.
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