06-22-2009 - Neil talks “green jobs”

Neil spoke at a workshop he organized to help local officials learn how to use federal funds to create "green" jobs. In a tough economy like we have now, any job is good, but a green job is great. This is because there are federal funds available to develop them, they build valuable skills and pay well, and they simultaneously improve the environment and move Hawaii toward energy independence, which will lead to additional savings and a better quality of life for future generations.

Abercrombie: You, too, could have a green job
by (AP) HONOLULU
Published: June 22, 2009

Jobs that reduce greenhouse gases and limit the effect humans have on the environment may be done by electricians, civil engineers and roofers, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said Monday.

Wind farms create jobs for sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers. Retrofitting a building to make it more energy efficient requires roofers and people who install insulation, the Hawaii Democrat said.

"The change to green jobs and energy independence is an extension of existing technology," Abercrombie said. "The jobs associated with it are not some sort of futuristic Star Trek kind of operation."

Abercrombie spoke at a workshop he organized to help local officials learn how to use federal funds to create "green" jobs. He said he wanted to spread the message that clean energy jobs are not alien, "pie in the sky" work.

"This is not something that has to do with 'those people out there but not me.' Quite the opposite," the congressman said.

Projects created by stimulus money and by clean energy legislation still pending before Congress would send an estimated $620 million in investment funds for green jobs to Hawaii, Abercrombie said.

That should create 7,000 jobs in the islands, he said.

"Clean energy investment that's the way I'm looking at it. I don't look at this as a subsidy or anything like that. These are investments because we're trying to make a change," Abercrombie said.

About 100 people attended the workshop at Honolulu Community College, including business leaders, educators and government officials.

Myaing Thein, executive director of Pacific Gateway Center, a nonprofit organization in Honolulu, said she wanted to learn about new jobs that might become available for the people her organization helps.

"I work with immigrants, refugees and low-income folks," Thein said. "In job training, as well as job placement, it's going to be important to know."

Gov. Linda Lingle has already declared a goal of using renewable energy sources like wind and solar power for 70 percent of Hawaii's energy's needs by 2030. Developers have proposed new wind and solar projects on Maui.

Van Jones, President Barack Obama's special adviser for green jobs, spoke to the conference by a video link from Washington.

Jones said the federal stimulus packaged included $5 billion in funds to "weatherize" buildings, or improve insulation and otherwise renovate buildings so they better hold in heat created by heaters and cold air created by air conditioners.

This money will not only pay workers and take people off unemployment rolls, it will help the occupants of homes save money by reducing their energy bills, Jones said.

The program will also reduces pollution, because power plants wouldn't need to burn as much fuel to feed inefficient homes, he said.

"We don't want a green economy primarily characterized by advanced products that people pay more money for," Jones said. "We want a green economy that's primarily about people earning more money. And saving more money."

Others at the workshop spoke about educating the "green work force," energy efficient building construction and federal grant programs.

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