People across the world are starting to become aware of the importance of reducing their carbon footprint. Most people do simple tasks like turning lights off when leaving a room or not keeping the water running while brushing their teeth. However fewer have taken the step to use sustainable transportation.
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job creation
Alternative energy is not only good for the environment; it’s good for job creation, too. According to the Solar Foundation, 100,237 Americans are now working in the US solar industry. The statement is based on preliminary data from National Solar Jobs Census 2011: A Review of the U.S. Solar Workforce.
From the beginning of his Administration, President Obama has been a champion for the wise stewardship of America's natural treasures, understanding the strong connection between the health of our lands and waters and the health of our economy. Smart, community-led conservation presents a tremendous
A new report by the United Nations Environment Program says that moving towards a green economy is the most effective way to reduce worldwide poverty
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released a report last week arguing the risks we face today are much different from what they were 50 years ago. The
On Tuesday, I joined President Obama in Cleveland to meet with small business leaders and get their ideas on how we can support their work in clean energy. America’s small businesses are engines of innovation and job creation. In fact, they create two out of every three new jobs in this country. Their ingenuity is essential to
Rebuild the U.S. manufacturing sector through green technology? If you’re a pessimist, you may immediately respond, “Yeah, tell that to the Chinese”… and use this month’s news of Evergreen Solar moving its factory from Massachusetts to China as evidence. Yes, China’s got a healthy lead on the renewable energy manufacturing front, but all’s not glum on
Big solar news from Illinois last week. The Wanxiang America Corporation held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new $12.5 million, 40,000 sq ft solar module plant in the town of Rockford. It’s yet another example of how product follows policy and how manufacturing follows markets. It is yet another example of how strong solar programs beget new jobs. And of how the
Solar Power: Made in the U.S.A.
written by Rosalind Jackson
Sunny Milpitas, California is the newly announced home of SunPower’s first domestic manufacturing operations. Yep, you heard right. More green manufacturing jobs right here in the U.S.A. (In November, Chinese solar powerhouse Suntech announced that its first U.S. manufacturing facility would be located near Phoenix, Arizona).
SunPower’s 75-megawatt production line is expected to employ 100 by the end of the year, and spread the wealth around even more by sourcing equipment and materials from a host of other states throughout the United States. At the Vote Solar Initiative, we like to remind folks that manufacturing is only a fraction of solar’s overall job creation opportunity. In fact, about 75 percent of solar employment is related to system installation, jobs that are inherently local in the first place. Nevertheless, manufacturing is near and dear to most Americans, and this new production facility is tangible proof that the green economy has a real role to play in bringing those jobs back home — with the right policies, that is.
As was the case with Suntech’s Arizona selection, SunPower’s decision to locate manufacturing in California is a testament to the state’s market-building solar policies. And so it is appropriate that stalwart renewable energy supporter, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, joined in making the announcement. During the event, Schwarzenegger highlighted a few initiatives that have been so instrumental to the state’s new energy economy that we think they bear repeating: