http://www.cchange.net Covering the transformations to social, environment and economic sustainability Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:08:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Sea Change Radio covers the transformations to social, environmental, and economic sustainability. Change is accelerating in positive and negative directions: the clock is ticking in the race to see which will tip first—the problems or the solutions. Join Sea Change's Host, Alex Wise, as he provides in-depth analysis to help our audience understand possible remedies and potential pitfalls. Sea Change interviews sustainability experts including Paul Hawken, Stewart Brand, Bill McKibben, Van Jones, Lester Brown, and many others. Sea Change airs on over 30 radio stations around the country. Alex Wise clean Alex Wise awise@cchange.net awise@cchange.net (Alex Wise) 2007-2011 Making Connections for Sustainability Sustainability, Climate Change, Human Rights, Environment, Corporate Responsibility, Socially Responsible Investing, Accountability, Stakeholders, Clean Tech, Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, Wealth Divide http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/cwr-images-archive/SeaChangeRadioTAG_square144_sm.jpg http://www.cchange.net Weekly http://www.cchange.net/2009/07/01/boosting-employment-with-green-jobs/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/07/01/boosting-employment-with-green-jobs/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:35:47 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=1349 http://www.cchange.net/2009/07/01/boosting-employment-with-green-jobs/feed/ 3 bob pollin,Clean Energy economy,Climate Bill,Green Jobs,stimulus “If you spend money on clean energy project, what happens in terms of effects on employment?”  That's the question Bob Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts seeks to answer in a pair of new reports... (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/BobPollin.jpg) “If you spend money on clean energy project, what happens in terms of effects on employment?”  That's the question Bob Pollin (http://www.peri.umass.edu/staff/#c128) of the Political Economy Research Institute (http://www.peri.umass.edu/) (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts seeks to answer in a pair of new reports in its Green Economics (http://www.peri.umass.edu/green_economics/) program. The Stimulus Plan (http://www.recovery.gov/) passed this spring and the Climate Bill (http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1633&catid=155&Itemid=55) that passed in the House (http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1697:house-passes-historic-waxman-markey-clean-energy-bill&catid=155:statements&Itemid=55) last week both hitch their wagons to creating a clean energy economy, with green jobs doing the heavy pulling.  The question is, will building a clean energy economy also boost employment, particularly for lower-income workers?  Bob Pollin and his PERI colleagues propose some answers in two new reports.  (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/GreenProsperity1.jpg)Green Prosperity: How Clean-Energy Policies Can Fight Poverty and Raise Living Standards in the United States, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (http://www.nrdc.org/) and Green For All (http://www.greenforall.org/), looks at how clean energy investments will impact lower-income workers. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/EconomicBenefits.jpg)The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy: How the Economic Stimulus Program and New Legislation Can Boost U.S. Economic Growth and Employment (http://www.peri.umass.edu/economic_benefits/), commissioned by the Center for American Progress (http://www.americanprogress.org/), takes a broader look at how clean energy investments will impact the economy. The reports look at both energy efficiency measures, such as building retrofits, public transportation, and smart grid, as well as clean energy such as solar, wind, and biomass.  They calculate that for every $1 million invested in these areas, 16.7 jobs are created. The PERI researchers then factor in the estimated 5.3 jobs lost in the fossil fuel sectors, for a net of 11.4 jobs gained per $1 million invested. With estimated investment of $150 billion flowing from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.00001:) (ARRA) and the American Clean Energy and Security Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.02454:)(ACES), this translates into a net of about 1.7 million new green jobs across the economy.  Of these, 870,000 green jobs require only a high school degree, almost three-quarters of which offer advancement opportunities. Next week, we'll hear on-the-ground reports from the green job pastures.  Sea Change Co-Host Francesca Rheannon visits the Spanish American Union (http://www.lacasahispana.org/) in Springfield, Massachusetts to speak with Patricia Moss, project manager of Groundwork Springfield (http://groundworkspringfield.org/), part of the Groundwork USA (http://www.groundworkusa.net/) national movement for communities to foster economic development through green jobs that help heal the environment.  The program is particularly geared toward youth employment (http://groundworkspringfield.org/node/7), and Francesca speaks with several of the young adults employed through the program.  We'll also hear from Adin Maynard, director of operations at Cozy Home Performance (http://www.mycozyhome.org/), which is embarking on a pilot project with the local utility for deep energy retrofits. Bill Baue clean 28:55 http://www.cchange.net/2009/04/30/the-green-jobs-debate/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/04/30/the-green-jobs-debate/#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:22:23 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=824 http://www.cchange.net/2009/04/30/the-green-jobs-debate/feed/ 1 bob pollin,Climate Change,Community Economic Engagement,david johnson,Green Jobs,Green Living,greenbiz,Labor Rights,marc gunther,Renewable Energy,Sustainable Innovation,Sustainable Public Policy Green jobs are all the talk nowadays, which has predictably led to healthy debate.  On today's Sea Change Radio, Co-Host Francesca Rheannon talks with GreenBiz Senior Writer Marc Gunther about his controversial article, "The Phony Green Jobs Debate. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/marcgunther1.jpg)(http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bobpollin.jpg)Green jobs are all the talk nowadays, which has predictably led to healthy debate.  On today's Sea Change Radio, Co-Host Francesca Rheannon talks with GreenBiz Senior Writer Marc Gunther about his controversial article, "The Phony Green Jobs Debate."  Bob Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, author of a report criticized by Gunther, responds.  To end the show, Rhennon speaks with David Johnson about Transition Towns. When Sea Change Radio -- under our old name Corporate Watchdog Radio -- talked with economist Bob Pollin about the report he co-authored, Green Recovery – A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy, he said that a $100 billion green economic recovery program would create two million jobs nationwide in such industries as building retrofitting, mass transit and freight rail, smart grid, wind power, solar power and advanced biofuels.  But environmental economics reporter Marc Gunther, formerly of FORTUNE magazine, thinks these claims may be downplaying the costs of transitioning to the green economy, especially the toll it may take on employment in conventional energy sectors. Gunther thinks the environmental movement needs to level with the public -- and he's gotten some flack from environmentalists for the recent Phony Green Jobs Debate article. After Marc Gunther posted the article, Pollin wrote him to dispute Gunther's claim that we can't forecast the costs to the economy of shifting employment to green jobs. Gunther published Pollin's comments and replied to them . After hearing this ad from the Blue-Green Alliance on green jobs, we talk with both Marc Gunther and Bob Pollin about the costs and benefits to jobs of the transition to a green economy. QUESTION TO LISTENERS: What most motivates you to make changes in your carbon footprint: fear of the long term consequences of climate change or economic benefits right now? Tweet us with your answer @cchange. Or leave a longer answer in our comment section. Transition Towns: As some ponder the role of government investment in creating green jobs, others aren't waiting for government to provide the stimulus for the transition to a low-carbon society. They are joining a grassroots movement called Transition Towns . Featured in the April 16 issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Transition Towns was started in the UK four years ago by ecological designer Rob Hopkins. The Transition Towns (TT) movement isn't about creating a more sustainable industrial, globalized society. Rather, it's about building resilient communities in the face of the shock of declining oil supplies, climate disruption, and the unraveling of industrial society as a result. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/davidjohnson.jpg) TT's goal is to put new systems in place to make local communities as self-sufficient as possible. It's process is to marshall the collective wisdom of those communities in an on-going, democratic, self-organizing evolution. And it focuses on practical efforts that can be accomplished now, but also help set up the conditions for a more profound transformation in the future. One example is the mass planting of nut trees in the small British town of Totnes--which now is the so-called nut tree capital of the world.  Recently, TT trainers came to Amherst, MA to put on an awareness raising workshop for people interested in making their own community a Transition Town. Sea Change Radio spoke with TT trainer David Johnson. He got involved in the TT movement in his native Britain, but has moved to Portland OR to help build the movement there.   Bill Baue clean 28:36 http://www.cchange.net/2009/01/21/viewpoint-francesca-rheannon-modest-proposal/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/01/21/viewpoint-francesca-rheannon-modest-proposal/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:24:04 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=429 http://www.cchange.net/2009/01/21/viewpoint-francesca-rheannon-modest-proposal/feed/ 1 Alternative Economic Models,bob pollin,Clean energy,Climate Change,Community Economic Engagement,Green Living,Obama,Sustainable Innovation,Sustainable Public Policy Sea Change Co-Host Francesca Rheannon has a modest proposal for building demand for energy efficiency: a Home Energy Savings Equal Opportunity Program. - The home energy audit guy came the other day. You know, (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/francescarheannon.jpg)Sea Change Co-Host Francesca Rheannon has a modest proposal for building demand for energy efficiency: a Home Energy Savings Equal Opportunity Program. The home energy audit guy came the other day. You know, the deal where your local utility pays an energy expert to come and tell you where all that cold air is seeping into your house? Here in Massachusetts, it’s called “Mass-Save ( http://www.masssave.com/)”. Well, it didn’t help me save a whole mass of energy. The first time I was the beneficiary of the program, back in the 1980’s, the Mass Save guy was like Santa Claus. From his pack, he brought out a voucher for some rolls of fiber glass insulation for my leaky attic, a door sweeper, and a whole mess of other goodies to make my house tighter. When I moved to my current apartment in 2002, the energy audit guy gifted me with enough florescent lightbulbs to replace all my incandescents and another couple of rolls of insulation for the attic. This time, all I got was a refrigerator brush and a few packets of foam inserts for outlets--barely enough for one room, let alone my entire, tiny apartment. Oh yes, I managed to wheedle out of him some spare strips of door insulation, enough to seal one of my two outside doors. And it’s not as if I didn’t get much because my house is all that tight. The audit guy suggested improvements that would cost me a couple of hundred dollars--as a renter. OK, folks, this is pathetic. It’s widely understood that home weatherization is a major low-hanging fruit (http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/testimony/2007test/022707drtest.pdf) for cutting carbon emissions. It benefits consumers, utility companies, and the planet. At a time when many Americans are having to choose between heating and eating, weatherizing homes would be a quick way to provide some meaningful economic stimulus that would benefit the entire economy. It would boost consumer spending with those dollars spared from home fuel costs — and provide jobs. The problem is the up-front costs. If you can barely pay your monthly heating bill, you can’t pay for serious weatherization of your home. Especially since those who have less usually have older, much less efficient houses. Energy efficient replacement windows, high R-value wall and attic insulation, efficient furnaces--these cost thousands. Even replacing incandescent light bulbs and plastic sheeting on windows is beyond the budget of many. And it isn’t just the poor. Plenty of middle class people are being squeezed. After the mortgage payment, the health insurance premium and the college tuition, there isn’t much left in the kitty for home weatherization. Currently, the federal government has plans to weatherize only 140,000 homes (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/us/30weatherize.html?_r=1)--a drop in the bucket. President Obama has said he’ll raise that to 1 million. That’s nice, but it’s still nowhere near enough to make a real dent in carbon emissions. Congress has added $250 million to the current budget for weatherization. That’s million with an “m”–not anything like the hundreds of billions taxpayers have poured into the pockets of the banks this year. And those billions ended up not as loans to businesses and consumers, but as dividends and executive bonuses (http://endthebailouts.com/2008/11/07/86-of-bailout-money-used-for-executive-bonuses/). So here’s my modest proposal for a real fiscal stimulus. It would work something like the earned income credit–starting high at the lower end of the income spectrum and phasing out the higher you went. It could cap, say, at 300% of the poverty level ($62,000 for a family of four). At that level of annual income, the program would include about half of all Americans. It wouldn’t take all that much, per household. As economist (and Sea Change guest) Bob Pollin reports in “Green Recovery Bill Baue clean http://www.cchange.net/2009/01/19/blog-top-corporate-social-responsibility-news-of-2008/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/01/19/blog-top-corporate-social-responsibility-news-of-2008/#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:53:49 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=419 http://www.cchange.net/2009/01/19/blog-top-corporate-social-responsibility-news-of-2008/feed/ 1 http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/the-road-to-economic-recovery-potholed-or-paved-in-green/ http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/the-road-to-economic-recovery-potholed-or-paved-in-green/#comments Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:20:00 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/the-road-to-economic-recovery-potholed-or-paved-in-green/ http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/the-road-to-economic-recovery-potholed-or-paved-in-green/feed/ 1 Barney Frank,bob pollin,center for american progress,global warming,hazel henderson,house financial services committee,political economy research institute,troubled asset relief program The market meltdown is spurring an urgent response from Congress, with both houses debating and revising versions of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bill on an hourly basis. The bill revises the President's proposed bailout of financial inst... The market meltdown is spurring an urgent response from Congress, with both houses debating and revising versions of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bill on an hourly basis. The bill revises the President's proposed bailout of financial institutions, which some call "Cash for Trash." CWR co-hosts Francesca Rheannon and Bill Baue interview US Representative (D-MA) Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee that is now ushering the Troubled Asset Relief Program bill, or TARP, through Congress. While many question whether this bailout is the best path out of the market meltdown, others are proposing a road to recovery paved in green. Bob Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute co-authored a report on the Green Recovery that was released last week with the Center for American Progress. Francesca and Bill interviewed him here at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst the day after he testified before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming at a hearing entitled "The Green Road to Economic Recovery." (http://www.house.gov/frank/barney.jpg)Representative Barney Frank Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bill as of 1:09 p.m. on September 22, 2008 (http://www.thecorporatecounsel.net/nonmember/09_22_08_BailOut.pdf) (http://www.peri.umass.edu/typo3temp/pics/b6394c88ee.jpg)Bob Pollin Green Recovery House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing: "The Green Road to Economic Recovery" (http://www.globalwarming.house.gov/pubs) Listen to the full 25-minute interview with Bob Pollin (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/podcasts/BobPollin.mp3) CWR ViewPoint:  read (http://vcr.csrwire.com/node/10556) Commentary from futurist Hazel Henderson of Ethical Markets on the market meltdown called Chicago Boys' Curse Comes Home to Wall Street. (http://www.hazelhenderson.com/images/hazelGood2.gif)Hazel Henderson of Ethical Markets (http://www.ethicalmarkets.com/). Bill Baue clean 29:50 http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/barney-frank-on-the-tarp-troubled-asset-relief-program-special-preview/ http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/barney-frank-on-the-tarp-troubled-asset-relief-program-special-preview/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:28:00 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/barney-frank-on-the-tarp-troubled-asset-relief-program-special-preview/ http://www.cchange.net/2008/09/23/barney-frank-on-the-tarp-troubled-asset-relief-program-special-preview/feed/ 1 Barney Frank,bob pollin,hazel henderson,house financial services committee,political economy research institute,troubled asset relief program In this special preview edition of this week's show, CWR co-hosts Francesca Rheannon and Bill Baue interview US Representative (D-MA) Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee that is now ushering the Troubled Asset Relief Program b... (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/barney-frank-150x150.jpg)In this special preview edition of this week's show, CWR co-hosts Francesca Rheannon and Bill Baue interview US Representative (D-MA) Barney Frank (http://www.house.gov/frank/), chair of the House Financial Services Committee that is now ushering the Troubled Asset Relief Program bill, or TARP, through Congress. The bill revises the President's proposed bailout of financial institutions to the tune of $1 trillion, which has been labeled "Cash for Trash." The bill is changing practically by the hour, and we caught Rep Frank today as the bill makes its way toward debate in Congress. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bill as of 1:09 p.m. on September 22, 2008 (http://www.thecorporatecounsel.net/nonmember/09_22_08_BailOut.pdf) Check back and tune in Wednesday for the full show, which will include this interview, as well as a conversation with Bob Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in his new Green Recovery report, and the CWR ViewPoint from futurist Hazel Henderson (http://vcr.csrwire.com/node/10556) of Ethical Markets on the market meltdown. Bill Baue clean 14:34