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In this issue, you will read articles on deadly global water, climate
change in Kenya, new appliance energy efficiency standards, 58 new
geothermal energy projects, the National Coalition on Renewable Energy,
our newly listed and popular Solar
Boot Camp for Electricians (Jan. 22-26) and Solar
Boot Camp for Beginners (Jan. 29 - Feb. 2), our Green
Career Conference on Nov. 18 which you won't want to miss, and more.
There continues to be an enormous amount of important work that all of
us must do for our world to be a more sustainable place. You can find hope
in our
workshops on solar power, alternative transportation, sustainable
living, natural and green building, and permaculture. I really encourage
each of you to take one of our
workshops and to read the books
that we promote.
Thanks to all of you for your support. Together we not only can make a
difference, we are making a difference!
Bob Gragson, Executive Director
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Green Career Conference |
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If you’ve been thinking about finding your niche in the emerging
green economy, you won’t want to miss our Green
Career Conference. This special event will feature leading green
entrepreneurs and career experts who will present the full range of
opportunities in the green economy and potential employers from a
variety of green companies.
Learn why you don't necessarily need a green background to
find a successful career with a company whose work is in line with
your values. You'll come away with ideas, strategies, resources and
contacts to help you find your dream green job!
Green Career Conference Program
Saturday, November
18, 2006
First Universalist Unitarian Center, San Francisco
8:30-9:00 - Registration and Coffee
9:00-9:30 - Welcome
Speaker: John Schaeffer,
Founder of Real Goods and the Solar Living Institute
9:30-10:30 - Green Careers Overview
Intro and
Moderator: Marie Kerpan, Founder of Green Careers
This panel,
hosted by an expert on green careers, will feature the subject
matter experts who will present the following four green career
sessions. The purpose is to introduce the speakers, and to give
participants a snapshot preview of the following four
sessions.
10:30-11:45 - Solar & Renewable Energy
Julie
Blunden: VP External Affairs, SunPower Corp.
Joe Marino:
President, DC Power
Jeff Oldham: President, Regenerative
SOLutions
11:45-12:30 - Networking Lunch
Participants are
provided with an organic lunch, and given the opportunity to network
with other career seekers and presenters.
12:30-1:45 - Biofuels & Alternative
Transportation
Kimber Holmes: Exec. Dir., Biodiesel Council
of CA, and Co-Founder, BioFuel Station
Steve Heckeroth: Chair of
the ASES Renewable Fuels and Transportation Division
David Blume:
Author, Alcohol Can Be a Gas!
1:45-3:00 - Natural & Green Building
David Arkin:
Principal, Arkin Tilt Architects
Massey Burke: Natural Builder
and Designer
Dana Porteus: Founder, SkySide Studios
3:15-4:30 - Sustainable Agriculture
Eliza Frey:
Winemaker, Frey Vineyards
Gloria Decater: Founder, Live Power
Community Farm
Chad Smith: Supply Chain Sustainability Manager,
Earthbound Farms
4:30-5:15 - Where Do You Go From Here? Strategies and Tactics
for Finding Your Green Career
Speaker: Marie Kerpan, Founder
of Green Careers
In this concluding session, you will receive
tips on how to choose a direction, learn strategies and tactics for
a successful search including info on interviewing, networking and
targeting, the functional resume, and the importance of structure
and follow- up.
5:15-7:00 - Networking Session
Presenters and
panelists, as well as a wide variety of potential employers (see
below) whose job listings are displayed in the Career Center area,
will be available during the networking session to answer questions
and interact with attendees. A no-host bar will be available and
hors d'oeuvres will be served.
12:30 to 7:00 - Career Center - (in adjoining room)
In
this resource-packed area, you will find job listings and tables
with information about a wide variety of green companies. Drop in
throughout the day to pick up information about different companies,
view current job listings, and leaf through the most cutting-edge
publications.
Then, come back during the networking session from 5:15-7:00 PM,
to speak with a representative from the following employers who will
be attending to speak with you about job opportunities: ARCO
Electric, Inc., Alternative
Building Concepts, California
Energy Commission, City
of San Francisco - Dept. of the Environment, Eco
Home Improvement, Eco-Struction,
General
Hydroponics, Global
Exchange, Graphics
in Green, Harmony
Farm Supply, Living
Tree Community Foods, Marin
Solar, Natural
Logic, NorCal
Solar Energy Association, 1
Star Energy, Owens
Electric & Solar, Poco
Solar, Premier
Power, REC
Solar, Sambazon,
Solar
Works, Sonoma
State University, Sun
Light and Power, SunPower
Corp., Sustainable
Spaces, Sustainable
Technologies, Toyota,
and the US
Green Building Council.
You won't want to miss this unique opportunity to meet
representatives from leading environmentally friendly organizations
who are hiring!
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Green Building Special |
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Did you know that in the United States, construction accounts
for:
36% of total energy use/65% of electricity consumption
30%
of greenhouse gas emissions
30% of raw materials use
30% of
waste output/136 million tons annually
12% of potable water
consumption
With the Solar Living Institute’s Intro
to Green Renovations and Intro
to Commercial Green Building, you can learn how to reduce the
devastating effects of building on the environment and dramatically
improve the air quality.
Take
both workshops and save $50! Limited space remaining.
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Are You Hiring? |
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If you have a green business and are looking for bright,
motivated employees, please send us your job listings to share with
Solar Living Institute alumni! If you would like your job openings
included in our Green Career Conference resource packets for
attendees, please send us your job listings by Thursday Nov. 16th at
6 PM to kevin.myers@solarliving.org.
Please include company name and contact info, job title and
description, and compensation.
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Climate Change: Kenya |
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Severe floods in Kenya's northern and coastal regions have
killed more than 20 people and forced 60,000 to relocate over the
last few weeks, and a flood- drought cycle is disrupting a
traditional way of life for 3 million nomadic herders in the north.
"These kinds of extreme flooding are the kind of events that are
consistent with scientific forecasts on climate change," says Nick
Nuttall of the U.N. Environment Program. When the floods go, drought
comes: one region has seen a fourfold increase in drought in the
last 25 years, according to research by Christian Aid, and drought
has also forced some 500,000 people to abandon their wandering ways.
Violence is increasing. Livestock raids have killed at least 150
people in the past five months, and violent clashes have erupted
over water. It is, says Christian Aid's Andrew Pendleton, the
"climate-change version of Rwanda."
For more information:
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Energy-Efficiency |
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After years of thumb-twiddling, the U.S. Department of Energy
will phase in more stringent energy- efficiency requirements for 22
household appliances and other pieces of equipment over the next
five years. Congress requires ramped-up efficiency standards
according to periodic deadlines. Green groups joined by 15 states
and New York City sued over the delay last year and now a settlement
is forcing the department to finally take action. Appliances with
better energy efficiency -- including dishwashers, fluorescent
lamps, ovens, etc. -- are expected to help save enough energy to
meet the needs of 12 million homes once fully in place. Under the
settlement, the department must set standards at the maximum
technologically feasible and cost- effective level possible.
For more information:
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Geothermal Power |
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Some 58 new geothermal energy projects are now under development
in the US, according to a survey by the Geothermal
Energy Association (GEA) - the industry trade group. "This
represents the US geothermal industry's most dramatic wave of
expansion since the 1980s," noted Karl Gawell, GEA's Executive
Director.
These projects, when developed, would provide up to 2,250
megawatts of electric power capacity, generating approximately 18
billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. These additions
would serve the needs of 1.8 million households, producing electric
power roughly equivalent to all US wind facilities operating in
2005. This would almost double installed US geothermal power
capacity to over 5,000 MW, according to GEA.
The new GEA survey identifies power projects under development in
Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada,
Oregon and Utah and classifies their stage of development. Since the
last survey in March, 2006, Alaska has been added to the list of
states producing geothermal power and a dozen new US geothermal
projects have been initiated.
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Renewables Coalition |
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The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) has established
a Higher
Education Committee. Chaired by College of the Atlantic
President David Hales, the coalition of college and university
presidents and academic leaders has called upon American
institutions of higher learning to commit to renewable energy by
greening their campuses, investing in the industry and teaching
future generations about renewable energy. The initial goal of the
HEC will be to encourage 100 U.S. colleges and universities to
purchase 100% renewable energy by 2010. A second goal is to
encourage 100 colleges to invest at least 10% of their endowments
into funds which support renewable energy companies by 2010. A third
goal is to encourage 100 colleges and universities to create
renewable energy courses of study by 2010.
For more information:
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Deadly Global Water |
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Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice -- but
it's more likely to be lack of access to clean water that does us
in. A U.N. report says dirty water is the second-leading cause of
death among children around the world, causing 1.8 million children
under 5 to perish each year, and says that 2.6 billion people have
no access to proper sanitation. Some countries, including Pakistan,
India, and Ethiopia, spend far more on their military than on
ensuring clean water and sanitation for their citizens. And in
sub-Saharan Africa, a sanitation crisis has slowed economic growth
by 5% of gross domestic product per year. The report's authors
recommend that developing countries set aside at least 1% of their
GDP for sanitation and sewage, and say the G8 nations should
increase their focus on water issues.
For more information:
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The End of Suburbia |
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The
End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American
Dream (DVD or VHS)
WE OFFER THE BEST PRICES ON THE INTERNET
Order from us (standard
case at $16.25 or cardboard
case at $13.95), and help support our work. ALSO AVAILABLE IN
SPANISH: El
Fin del Sueño Americano
The
End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its
prospects as the planet approaches a critical era and as global
demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak
and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now some
scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The
consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are
enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy
prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of
suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs
destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW,
individually and collectively, to avoid The End of
Suburbia?
This DVD, or VHS, is an excellent introduction to the issue of
oil and natural gas depletion coming soon to a neighborhood near
you. If you haven't picked up a copy of this riveting documentary,
do so today! You won't want to miss it!
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Post-Petroleum Survival |
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The
Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing
Times by Albert K. Bates
Over the coming years we will need to move from a global culture
addicted to cheap, abundant petroleum to a culture of compelled
conservation, whether through government directive or market forces.
The
Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook provides useful
practical advice for preparing your family and community to make the
transition.
This book takes a positive, upbeat, and optimistic view of "the
Great Change," promoting the idea that it can be an opportunity to
redeem our essential interconnectedness with nature and with each
other. The many rifts that have grown up since oil became the
world's prime commodity can be mended: between cities and their food
sources; the design of the suburban built environment and its
car-oriented sprawl; runaway greenhouse warming, clearing of forests
and toxification of rivers, oceans, and land. Topics covered
include:
- Rebuilding civilization
- Changing your needs
- Water and waste disposal
- Energy and transportation
- Equipment and Tools
- Food storage and First Aid
Also including light-hearted, playful recipes -- some using
basic, wholesome foods, some illustrating food growing or
preservation, and all emphasizing organic, flavorful and locally
grown produce that readily substitute one for another -- this book
is about having your catastrophe and eating it too.
The author, Albert Bates, has been Director of the Global Village
Institute for Appropriate Technology since 1984 and the Ecovillage
Training Center at The Farm in Tennessee since 1994, where he has
taught sustainable design, natural building, permaculture and
restoration ecology to students from more than 50 nations.
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