Green energy video contest

Indiana's Hoosier Environmental Council is sponsoring a green energy video contest to help raise awareness about clean energy.

Mon, Jul 06 2009 at 7:00 AM EST

The rise in clean energy jobs in the United States has been a common theme on my blog posts lately. After the Pew Charitable Trusts released the results of a decade-long study a few weeks ago, clean energy jobs have continued to make headlines at MNN and in other news outlets across the country.

The Indiana-based Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) is capitalizing on this push for renewable energy and is sponsoring a green energy video contest. The videos are being hosted on YouTube and the contest is open for entries until August 24, 2009.

The HEC website explains why the organization is hosting the contest: “To find out what Hoosiers are doing to fight global warming in their daily lives and why they are advocating for federal clean energy/global warming legislation – in new, fun, and creative ways.” Source: HEC

Every entrant will receive a t-shirt and decal, but four lucky videographers will win cash prizes. The funniest, most creatively produced, and most thoughtful/well-researched videos will each be awarded a $200 prize. The grand prize winner of the competition will receive a $500 prize. Contest rules are available online. (PDF)

According to the Hoosier Environmental Council, the state ranks 49th in environmental quality by Forbes Magazine. The Clean Energy Economy report (PDF) shows that only .52% of jobs in the state of Indiana were in the clean energy industry. However, this is a bit higher than the .49% seen on a national level.

Despite the low ranking by Forbes Magazine, clean energy job growth in the state is already greatly outpacing the national average. Between 1998 and 2007, job growth in renewable energy fields was 9.1%. Indiana experienced a 17.9% growth in clean energy jobs during the same time period. This is in stark contrast to the -1.0% overall job growth the state experienced between 1998 and 2007.

Although clean energy jobs are on the rise in the state, the video contest will help guide the state’s congressional representatives to support federal green energy legislation.

Photo by Johnny Jupiter