MNN - Mother Nature Network

Although it is only Wednesday, this week is already chock full of green jobs and green economy news. Here are some of the highlights.

 

The NAACP is hosting its 101st annual convention this week and the green economy was featured in one discussion session. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins (Green for All CEO), Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), and Rinku Sen (Applied Research Center) joined in a panel discussion moderated by NAACP Climate Justice Initiative Director Jacqui Patterson.

 

During the session, the panel discussed the role that African Americans need to take in the burgeoning green economy. “People of color have not come to the table yet, but we need to become the leaders of climate change and sustainability. We’ve got a problem [in climate change], so let’s exploit it and let’s fix it.” Source: NAACP

 

Denver-based Veterans Green Jobs (VGJ) has begun a search for a new CEO. The organization is a 501c3 nonprofit that was created in 2008 to help provide green jobs training and career opportunities for military veterans. The organization provides training in several environmental fields including energy efficiency, weatherization, land conservation, and urban forestry.

 

The VGJ CEO position is open to qualified individuals regardless of veteran status. The new CEO will begin on October 1, 2010 and will help in the organization’s fundraising efforts, work on leadership and advocacy campaigns, serve as the primary spokesperson of the organization and much more. If you’re interested in learning more about this position, read the Green Jobs Veterans CEO job description for more information.

 

In a letter to the editor of The Indianapolis Star, Lynn Teel with the Indiana Soybean Alliance is confident that Indiana will be a major player in the green jobs market. Teel cites the state’s growing wind power industry, the large ethanol industry, and the biodiesel plants as proof positive that Indiana is poised to be a major play in the nation’s green economy.

“Take, for example, the impact of Indiana's biofuels industry, which has created more than 3,300 full-time jobs and more than $2 billion in economic activity. Already, our state possesses the capacity to generate about 7 percent of the total U.S. ethanol production and our biodiesel plant has revitalized a rural community in Northern Indiana.” Source: IndyStar.com

As long as corn and soybean-based ethanol continue to be supported both financially (through subsidies) and by the automakers as a fuel of the future, Teel’s predictions may come true. However, the future viability of ethanol is something that is questioned by scientists and environmentalists alike.