The Refinishing Touch Blog

In early January, the Obama administration announced an award of $2.3 billion in Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits, designed to stimulate job growth in the clean energy sector. While the government’s plans are commendable, they need help to succeed. Despite willing workers and an influx of funding, the clean energy movement has been slow to get off the ground. Furthermore, because the term ‘green job’ in the eco-friendly energy sector has such a vague definition and is not held up to any real standards, employers can label any job a ‘green job’ without worrying about accountability.

On top of that, many clean energy projects have been sprouting up, but often without actual jobs in tow. For example, a 36 thousand acre Texas wind farm seemed poised to create a number of jobs, using $1.5 billion of stimulus money, but the project, financed by China’s Shenyang Power Group, fell through. Although it required nearly 3 thousand workers, only 15 percent of those would have been for citizens in the United States.

Luckily, creating green energy jobs while adopting environmentally friendly practices has become a top priority for the government, and the pieces for creating a fruitful clean energy sector are there: a willing administration, an International Labour Organization that sees value in going green, stimulus money and opportunity. With more time and some redirected efforts, decision-makers can take these factors and help turn possibility into actuality.

Labels: Clean energy, government, green efforts, Green energy, Green Jobs

According to an article on MSNBC.com, women, youth and CEOs are projected to lead the future forge in sustainability throughout the United States.

Bill Roth, the contributing writer, highlighted that each of these three demographics were most likely to become the drivers in the adoption of sustainability.

Noting key motivations of each, Roth examined the three groups segmenting common opinion and found that while the youth have taken on inherited challenges such as climate change, women see sustainability as a goal for overall wellness, and CEOs are managing policies to tackle reducing carbon footprints on a company-wide scale.

June saw the meeting of sustainability leaders and pioneers gather at the Sustainable Brands Conference 2009. Now in its third year, the annual conference holds more relevance than ever. Each year its participants and attendees come together to discuss the ways that business, government and non-governmental organizations can contribute toward the success of sustainability throughout our nation.

At the conference, Travelocity's Director of Sustainability Initiatives, Leilani Latimer, interestingly noted that the greenest traveler is the frequent corporate business traveler. Businesses are adopting the reduction of CO2 emissions as a core business goal, and recognize its influence in the way it shapes travel expenditures, office operations and supply chain purchasing criteria.

Another speaker at the conference noted that women account for nearly 85 percent of retail purchases and added that mothers are embracing sustainability as concerned caretakers. Their contributions to sustainability come from a consumer standpoint through the purchase of locally grown, organic foods that are healthier for their families, and automobiles with lower emissions because they want a cleaner environment for their children.

The youth have adopted sustainability as their "North Star," which Roth notes was a major branding theme at SB09. Implying a point of direction, and enabling information for the execution of a path, the North Star concept sees the youth of our nation recognizing the need to drive the focus for sustainability in order to secure a greener future.

At The Refinishing Touch, sustainability is the driving force behind each and every aspect of our business. We see the work that we do throughout each of the government, hospitality and education sectors as contributions toward a greener, more efficient nation, and hearing of the success and thought leadership that comes from events like the Sustainability Brands Conference reinforces and encourages us to continue on our green path. We look forward to this being a drive for many more individuals and companies to come.

Labels: green efforts, Sustainability, Sustainability Brands Conference 2009

Here at TRT we like to keep an eye on who's doing what in the world of sustainability. We think this list of top green cities in the US from one of our favorite green communities - Mother Nature Network – is a fascinating insight into how communities are transforming themselves to embrace sustainability and reduce their carbon footprint.

Cities were judged on air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make a green life style choice easy.

Austin, Texas comes in at number ten. Austin aims to be carbon neutral by 2020 and with Austin Energy being the nation's largest provider of renewable energy this goal looks set to be achieved. At number nine is Chicago, with its historical focus on sustainability since 1909, when a pioneering planner named Daniel Hudson Burnham created a long term plan and a permanent green belt around the city.

Seattle comes in at number eight with 20 LEED-certified public buildings and incentives to encourage residents to install solar panels. Berkeley, California ranks seventh as a recognized leader in the incubation of clean technology for power including wind, solar, bio-fuels and hydro.

At number six is Cambridge, Massachusetts, which implemented a climate protection plan in 2002. Today almost all city vehicles are fuelled by biodiesel or electricity, and all new constructions must meet LEED standards. Number five, Eugene, Oregon, lives up to its image of natural green beauty by offering 30 miles of off street bike paths and 29 bike routes.

Oakland, California is at number four with the nation's cleanest tap water, hydrogen powered public transit and plans to have zero waste and oil-independence by 2020. Massachusetts scores again with Boston at number three with a green deadline set for 2015 complete with hybrid taxi cabs, solar panel and electric motorbikes.

The second greenest city is San Francisco; it boasts an impressive recycling program, which has an artist present to inspire individuals. It was also the first US city to ban plastic grocery bags which aims to reduce 75% of landfill waste by 2010.

But at number one is Portland, Oregon, which was voted the top green city for many reasons – including its claim as the most bike-able city in the US with more than 200 miles of bike lanes, and a focus on sustainable living with residents encouraged to take DIY classes in gardening, cheese making, beekeeping and chicken keeping.

Although it's not an exhaustive list, this is a great snapshot of how communities across America are working to protect the environment. Promoting good practices in this way is a great way to inspire individuals and community leaders.

Labels: Green, Green Cities, green efforts, LEED, United States

We couldn't blog this week without mentioning the G20 Summit that is happening across the Atlantic. It takes place in London where there has been plenty of unrest, and we're glad to observe it from a distance.

The G20 summit has a primary objective as a forum to cover the economic crisis but with so many global figureheads in one place at one time, there are calls that they shouldn't miss an opportunity to discuss climate change. These calls were quelled earlier in the week when G20 advisers reminded environmentalists that the climate change event of the year is in December, when the UN will hope to reach a global deal to replace the Kyoto agreement.

Granted, the G20 is not the place to discuss green rules for developed countries, but despite the scale of the economic crisis leaders should at least acknowledge a link between the economy, the environment, and how announcements such as Obama's stimulus plan and the myriad of various green initiatives within it all connect.

Meanwhile some environmentalists are challenging the logic of having a global summit once every few years - and the resulting lack of speed in agreeing, let alone implementing any agreements, needs to be dramatically changed. Even at a faster pace we would struggle in the race to keep up with the speed of fossil fuels being burnt, ice cap melting and deforestation. And December is a long way away....

Labels: Climate Change, G20 Summit, green efforts

Labels: 'Go Green', College, green efforts, green rating, LEED, Massachusetts Maritime, microturbine, New Year's Resolution, The Princeton Review, university, wind turbine