The Working Families Party Spearheads Green Jobs Efforts

by: robert.harding

Sun Sep 13, 2009 at 08:40:11 AM EDT

But it was also a big win for the Working Families Party. Their Green Jobs NY campaign was a main reason why this legislation was not only introduced, but why it also passed. They wanted to see green jobs come to New York. They wanted to see greener homes in New York and greener businesses. They made it a key part of their legislative agenda and, as the Working Families Party usually does, they won.

"This bill would put New York on track to become a national leader in energy efficiency," said Dan Cantor, Working Families Party Executive Director. "Millions of homeowners will get the chance to green their homes and see big energy savings while reducing our carbon footprint.  And all that construction work means tens of thousands of badly needed high-skill, living-wage jobs. It's a win-win-win."

A report on Green Jobs/Green Homes by the Center for American Progress said that the initiative "a policy roadmap for New York State to achieve mass-scale energy-efficiency improvements-or retrofits-of 1 million housing units over the next five years." In addition to that, it would help New York fight climate change and would create 60,000 green economy jobs and save New York's households $1 billion every year.

From the report:

Green Jobs/Green Homes NY will be the largest residential retrofit program ever initiated in the United States and can serve as a model for the nation.

What did the Working Families Party? They did what they do best: Built a coalition of groups to support the green jobs bill. While they acknowledge the great job the Senate Democrats did on this and believe that it was the hard work of everyone that got this to pass, it is hard to overlook the WFP's efforts on this legislation. They built the coalition. They pushed this legislation as a key economic development and economic growth tool, as well as an important environmental measure that would make New York a leader in combating climate change. The even became the target of Republicans who wished to tie these efforts to ACORN and tried to make the New York State Senate a political battlefield over this issue.

Senator Mike Ranzenhofer, a Republican who represents the 61st Senate District, said this of the Green Jobs bill in a press release:

Senator Sampson has called the State Senate into special session for Thursday, September 10 at 2 o'clock. One of the bills on the agenda establishes a Green Jobs/Green New York program that is billed as an environmentally friendly economic development initiative, when in reality it is simply a tax giveaway to "community organizers" like ACORN and the Working Families Party.

"Western New York needs real solutions and real jobs, not another program that will not produce results and will cost taxpayers $112 million.  Thursday's special session will turn out to be a waste of time and money for taxpayers if it fails to eliminate wasteful programs. Enacting across-the-board spending cuts remains the only way to solve the State's fiscal crisis," said Senator Ranzenhofer.

Ranzenhofer targeted community organizers (apparently, they are deserving of sarcastic quotes) who play a key role in the Working Families Party and targeted, by name, the Working Families Party.

But he still voted for the Green Jobs bill.

The Green Jobs bill is a big win for New York. We don't hear a lot of good things coming out of Albany, but this is a very good thing to come out of the capital. Getting this Green Jobs bill through the Senate is a win-win for all New Yorkers. For the Working Families Party, it reinforces what we already knew: They are a force in New York and when you need to get a bill passed and build a coalition of support behind that bill, you want the Working Families Party on your side.

Green Jobs Initiative Passes Senate

by: robert.harding

Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 08:12:22 AM EDT

"This program will create jobs, save consumers on their energy bills and help get our economy back on track," Senator Darrel Aubertine, the sponsor of the bill, said. "By passing the Green Jobs/Green New York Act today with bipartisan support we have taken an important step toward improving our economy and helping our environment. This bill encourages conservation, helps consumers with the cost of capital improvements to their homes and businesses, and creates jobs in the new economy. It's a win-win for New York State, especially Upstate New York where a well-trained workforce will be in demand to keep the heat in and energy bills down every winter."

The passing of this bill brings a lot of good things for New York. Here is a breakdown:

·         The program will be funded with revenue raised by the auction of carbon emission credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This funding will be used to leverage private and federal investments. The bill allocates $112 million from these auctions to NYSERDA. Auctions of carbon emission credits over the last two years raised $126 million, with an estimated $75 million more expected in the next two auctions this year alone.

·         NYSERDA will establish a revolving loan program to provide up to $13,000 per residential customer to retrofit a home, and up to $26,000 to retrofit each qualifying business, and also conduct energy audits, program administration and a credit enhancement for critical private sector capital investments.

·         In partnership with the Department of Labor, NYSERDA will also create workforce training programs throughout the state to ensure that the state's workforce is highly trained and in place to handle mass-scale retrofitting.

·         The program will front the cost of the work, enabling property owners to afford energy efficient retrofits. Although property owners will repay the full cost over time, their total energy usage will be reduced by 30-40%, and the loan payment on their energy bill will be less than what they saved, yielding a net saves to the property owner.

·         Local contractors, certified to perform the retrofits will be able to expand their crews, creating new and permanent jobs in green construction and additional jobs in local businesses and manufacturing that serve those new workers.

·         Loans will be eligible to home and business owners in rural and urban communities throughout the state, from Watertown to Montauk and Buffalo to Albany.

This is important legislation, especially for upstate New York. One of the things we have been pushing in upstate New York for awhile is a green economy. I know that Alice Kryzan, who ran for Congress last year and is running for Amherst Town Supervisor this year, made this a big theme in her campaign. Bringing the green economy to upstate New York can help revitalize our whole economy.

But aside from upstate New York, this benefits all New Yorkers, whether they live in Manhattan or Mendon. This will help us, as citizens, become more green in our daily living and also help our economy by creating much needed jobs.

The vote tally for this bill was 52 to 8. The eight to vote against it were all Republicans and a few of them were not only Republicans, but members of the Republican leadership.

Here are the eight no votes:

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos
Deputy Minority Leader Tom Libous
John DeFrancisco
Owen Johnson
Betty Little
Michael Nozzolio
George Winner
Catharine Young

The other thing to notice about this list is that most of the list consists of upstate senators. They come from districts where jobs are needed and initiatives like the green economy will go a long way. They chose not to support this bill, but when it creates jobs in their district, I am certain they will be on board then (for re-election's sake).

Aside from the politics of this bill though, this is going to do great things for New York. We needed this bill to pass and it passed overwhelmingly. This is great for all New Yorkers.  

Green Jobs Initiative Up For Vote In New York State Senate Today

by: robert.harding

Thu Sep 10, 2009 at 09:51:38 AM EDT

The bill is described as a job creation measure and helps push the idea of a green economy in New York.

Here are some details on the bill.

1. The bill, (S.5888) is a Job Creation program that pays for itself through energy savings and revitalization of economically distressed communities.

2. The landmark program will create 14,000 permanent jobs while significantly reducing energy costs for an estimated 1 million homes and business, curtailing the dangerous effect of greenhouse emissions on the environment.

3. Green Jobs creates a program where middle-income home and business owners can make their property more energy efficient to save money on their heating and cooling bills.

4. The program will provide $112 million in capital funding for job creation and workforce training, energy audits, program administration and a credit enhancement for critical private sector capital investment. GJ/GNY will front the cost of the work, enabling property owners to afford energy efficient retrofits that will cut energy usage by 30-40% yielding immediate savings on their monthly energy bills. Owners will repay the cost over time through on-bill financing on their utility bills, but their overall bill total would still be lower than what they pay right now.

5. Local contractors, certified to perform the retrofits will be able to expand their crews, creating new and permanent jobs in green construction and additional jobs in local businesses and manufacturing that serve those new workers.

6. By targeting the bill to middle income homeowners, the program has a statewide impact. Green Jobs/Green NY serves homeowners who make too much to qualify for Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) money but don't make enough to afford energy saving retrofits. Upstate, where the median income is lower, the cut-off for WAP is so low that most people can't qualify, but they can for Green Jobs/Green NY.

7. Green Jobs/Green NY costs taxpayers NOTHING. The program doesn't take any money out of the state budget; it save homeowners money on their utility bills and creates thousands of jobs that bring money into the local economy. Funding for the program comes from carbon auction funds which are required to fund energy efficiency. This program uses that available money to save millions of New Yorkers money on their utility bills while putting thousands back to work for good.

8. The greatest barrier to energy efficiency and green job creation is the ability of residential and business property owners to afford the work. The Green Jobs/ Green NY programs breaks down that barrier through the infusion of up-front capital with NO on-budget cost to the state.

There is some Republican support for this bill, but there are still plenty of GOP members who are in opposition.

Keep in mind that this bill is being voted on in light of what happened with Van Jones. What people may not realize is that the reason why Jones was targeted was because he supported green jobs and the new green economy and the people who targeted him from Fox News and Americans for Prosperity are active in trying to put a stop to green jobs initiatives throughout the country.

This is important. This legislation will bring real economic development opportunities to New York through green initiatives. Not only will it help the economy, but it will help the environment as well.

Green Jobs In New York: "New York Can Gain From Fighting Global Warming"

by: robert.harding

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 11:13:08 AM EDT

You can read the national report here.

The fact sheet on New York shows how green jobs can impact our economy and why green jobs are so significant. According to the fact sheet, there are approximately 615,000 jobs in New York that can benefit from green energy, whether that is mass transit, wind power, solar power or biofuels.

Here are some examples cited in the fact sheet as to what green collar jobs are available.

Building Retrofitting: Electricians, heating/air conditioning installers, carpenters, construction equipment operators, roofers, insulation workers, carpenter helpers, industrial truck drivers, construction managers, building inspectors

Mass Transit: Civil engineers, rail track layers, electricians, welders, metal fabricators, engine assemblers, production helpers, bus drivers, first-line transportation supervisors, dispatchers

Energy-Efficient Automobiles: Computer software engineers, electrical engineers, engineering technicians, welders, transportation equipment painters, metal fabricators, computer-controlled machine operators, engine assemblers, production helpers, operations managers

Wind Power: Environmental engineers, iron and steel workers, millwrights, sheet metal workers, machinists, electrical equipment assemblers, construction equipment operators, industrial truck drivers,industrial production managers, first-line production supervisors

Solar Power: Electrical engineers, electricians, industrial machinery mechanics, welders, metal fabricators, electrical equipment assemblers, construction equipment operators, installation helpers, laborers, construction managers

Cellulosic Biofuels: Chemical engineers, chemists, chemical equipment operators, chemical technicians, mixing and blending machine operators, agricultural workers, industrial truck drivers, farm product purchasers, agricultural and forestry supervisors, agricultural inspectors

What amazes me is that in my part of New York (and in my county too) there is resistance to green energy and what it can bring. Wind energy is a great example of this. We need these energy sources, not only for the efficient energy it can bring, but also because of the jobs these energy sources can produce. In New York, where jobs are needed, this can be a gateway to economic prosperity.