The following NY Times article focuses on the Senate’s upcoming agenda to tackle both Wall Street reform and climate change legislation. After much effort was put into passing healthcare legislation, the Senate will continue to push forward with its agenda by addressing economic recovery and climate change. Carbon markets will be a key topic for discussion for both the business and environmental communities as Senate leaders look to map out legislative strategy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) intends to work with committee leaders on the Kerry, Graham, Lieberman legislative proposal; expected to be released in the next week.
NY Times: Obama Wants Senate to Tackle Climate Bil After Wall St. Reforms
The following press release from the USDA announces new resources to enhance market-based approaches to conservation. Through the USDA’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) in the 2010 fiscal year budget, about $25 million will be allocated to help assist producers in using market-based approaches and technological innovations in land conservation efforts. In addition to conservation, CIG also encourages innovative solutions for climate change, water/soil/air quality, and wildlife habitat protection. More information about the CIG program and application material can be found at http://www.grants.gov/ or the CIG web page.
Renowned climate scientist-activist Dr. James Hansen posted the following op-ed in the Huffington Post, earlier this week. Will President Obama seize his chance to address "the predominant moral issue of the 21st century? We sure hope so!
For the full article, please visit the Huffington Post.
The predominant moral issue of the 21st century, almost surely, will be climate change, comparable to Nazism faced by Churchill in the 20th century and slavery faced by Lincoln in the 19th century. Our fossil fuel addiction, if unabated, threatens our children and grandchildren, and most species on the planet.
Yet the president, addressing climate in the State of the Union, was at his good-guy worst, leading with "I know that there are those who disagree..." with the scientific evidence. This weak entrée, almost legitimizing denialists, was predictably greeted by cheers and hoots from well-oiled coal-fired Congressmen. The president was embarrassed and his supporters cringed."
Read the full op-ed, here.
There's a fun and free community event this Saturday (April 10th) in Dorchester - Following a job and health fair from 9 – 1pm, the Commonwealth Challenge is hosting a Green Jobs Rally and Block Walk. The event is one of the first stops on a Green The Block National Tour hosted by Green For All and Hip Hop Caucus. Enjoy some conscious hip hop provided by Tem Blessed of YouthBuild New Bedford (and MAGJC Board member), learn about weatherization, then join in on a "Neighborhood Block Walk to Retrofit Dorchester."
MAGJC is proud to be partnered on the Commonwealth Challenge, a grassroots campaign led by community partners across Massachusetts. As MAGJC members, we hope that you will visit the website and take the pledge to reduce your own electricity demand 5% this year. "When the People Lead, the Leaders Will Follow." We can have 100% clean electricity in 10 years!
Please check out the below details on this great event! We hope to see you there (and yes, we realize its the same time as down:2:earth - another reason we need volunteers :)
To volunteer, please call Laurie at 857.445.8313 or email marty[at]magjc.org
What: Rally for Green Jobs: Party & Block Walk
When: Sat. April 10th, 12:30p - 3:00p
Where : Russell Auditorium, 70-80 Talbot Ave. Dorchester, MA
Contact :
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
How much?: FREE!
MAGJC is excited to be partnered on a new campaign meant to spark green jobs creation, energy conservation and poverty eradication across the Massachusetts, its called "The Commonwealth Challenge." Here's an important message from the Campaign Coordinator, Josh Lynch.
Dear friends,
When the people lead, leaders will follow!
It is seven weeks before the 40th Earth Day, and the people of Massachusetts are coming together for The Commonwealth Challenge - a "retrofit revolution" that will fight poverty and pollution at the same time.
The Commonwealth Challenge is a campaign to collectively save 100,000 kWh of electricity by Earth Day, April 22. This achievement will stand as a challenge to our leaders to put a national price on carbon and clean up the Massachusetts electric grid within ten years. You see, we are tired of talking. Our aim is action. The results of our actions will send a message to our leaders more powerful than any petition drive.
I am asking you to join us. Whether you rent a shack, own a mansion, or live somewhere in between, you can make a difference by meeting The Commonwealth Challenge. Save 5% of your electricity by April 22. Find out how at:
http://www.
The CommonwealthChallenge.org website has many tools to help you meet your 5% pledge while saving money, reducing pollution, and creating good local jobs. Thanks to our community and business partners, you can:
- Sign up for a free home energy screening
- Retrofit your home at a group discount
- Track and compare your energy use with neighbors
http://www.
Massachusetts is the birthplace of American Revolution so let's create a spark that catches fire. Help us do that by sending this message to five Massachusetts friends and encouraging them to get involved.
When the people lead, leaders will follow. In a world where "green" is the hottest trend, let's take The Commonwealth Challenge and turn dreams into results.
With hope,
Josh Lynch
Coordinator, The Commonwealth Challenge
------------------------------
The Commonwealth Challenge is a grassroots campaign involving the following Massachusetts partners: 350.org, Alliance for Climate Education, Back Bay Green Initiative, Bikes Not Bombs, Boston Youth Environmental Network, B.O.L.D. Teens, Common Green, Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, Green Trade Association, Home Energy Efficiency Team, The Leadership Campaign, Massachusetts Climate Action Network, Massachusetts Green Jobs Coalition, Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light, Inc., New England Women in Energy and Environment, Next Step Living, Span, Inc., United Methodist Church in New England Climate Change Task Force, Wattzy, and Youth Build Boston.
The project reported below protects the union rights of “green jobs” workers. The Western Mass. Green Economy Working Group helped the consortium members find each other. WMGEWG advocates for a Green Economy which serves local communities, guarantees workers' rights to organize, and promotes community-owned sustainable projects. We meet monthly on the fourth Wednesday, 12:30-2:30pm (Brown Bag Lunch at Noon), at the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield.
'Green' trades jobs await training
Springfield Republican, Wednesday, February 24, 2010
By Jim Kinney, business writer
http://www.masslive.com/
SPRINGFIELD - Classes in a "green" building trades program run by UMass, area labor unions and contractors, won't begin for months, but organizers already have jobs or slots in more advanced apprenticeship programs lined up for 19 graduates.
"Our joint apprenticeship partners are optimistic," said Joseph F. Connolly, director of the Labor/Management Workplace Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
If the Springfield training goes well, Connolly said the Workplace Education Program would like to expand it to Holyoke, Amherst, Greenfield, Pittsfield and Northampton.
read the full article here
We might have a Black president, but that doesn't mean that systems of oppression are not still firmly in place, especially here in Boston. The mainstream media would still have us think that, with the exception of a few shining hip-hop artists, athletes, and, well, one Commander in Chief, black people are largely incapable of succeeding in the professional world. If, as allies, we are are going to help dismantle the stereotypes and remove the stigmas holding down our brothers and sisters, we must support them in holding up the role models and leaders within the community who are rewriting the story every day.
The Massachusetts Green Jobs Coalition (MAGJC) is dedicated to supporting this work, and we are happy to be here today at a special meeting of "Black People for Better Schools," to "honor the 11 of Boston's Black Male Educators and their commitment and passion to serve the youth in our communities." These headmasters of Boston Public Schools have so often done so much with so few resources. It is so important to highlight their steadfast efforts and successes.
We are in the Piedmonte Room at Boston City Hall, filled with some of the strongest leaders in the Boston Public School system and the local Black community. We are so very honored to be able to attend this event in solidarity and mutual support. Spirits are high as a few of the honored headmasters address the crowd. "Fools have called this a thankless job," proclaimed Winston Cox, Director of the Social Justice Academy, "but we are reminded how important it is, every single day."
These men continue to work diligently in what was today referred to as "the trenches of education," to provide critical role models for so many young people in the Boston Public School system. As Headmaster Cox tells his students, "You can see us, so you can be us."
From the President of the NAACP, as reported by CNN:
He is quite simply one of the few Americans in recent years to have generated powerful new ideas that are creating more jobs here.
He wrote the national bestseller, "The Green Collar Economy," which provided the definitive blueprint for retooling American industry to create pathways out of poverty and generate a national economic recovery. He was a driving force behind passage of the 2007 Green Jobs Act. In fact, Van's ideas have helped lead to the creation of tens of thousands of jobs across the industrial Midwest and throughout the nation's decaying urban and rural areas.
Van Jones also may be the most misunderstood man in America.
Read the Full Article, here.
Update:
Mass Alliance is looking to hire a Deputy Director. This is an excellent opportunity for an individual with some experience in politics and organizing, but with plenty of room for professional growth. It is a great job for someone who wants to have a tangible role in helping to build the progressive movement in Massachusetts.
Apply Now! Deadline March 1st!
get the details here http://massalliance.org/career.html
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