U.S. To Train Veterans To Install Solar Panels, White House Announces

 | By By JOSH LEDERMAN

Posted: 09/18/2014 6:00 am EDT Updated: 09/18/2014 10:59 am EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is planning to train veterans to become solar panel installers in the next six years, the White House said Thursday.

The jobs training program is among a host of initiatives the White House says will cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 million tons through 2030, plus save billions of dollars on energy bills for homeowners and businesses. It will launch this fall at one or more military bases and train a total of at least 50,000, including veterans.

The Agriculture Department will also spend nearly $70 million to fund 540 solar and renewable energy projects, focused on rural and farming areas. And the Energy Department will propose stricter efficiency standards for commercial air conditioners, a move the department said could cut emissions more than any other efficiency standard it has issued to date.

The proposals are modest compared with what President Barack Obama has asked Congress to do through legislation to promote clean energy, invest in infrastructure projects and force reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. But with lawmakers unwilling to consider any major climate legislation, Obama has sought to maximize what presidential authority he does hold.

Next week, Obama will attend a one-day United Nations summit on climate change in which heads of state are expected to show up with commitments to curbing emissions at home.

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Solar power isn’t just good for our finances. It’s also good for creating jobs and stimulating the economy.

Jobs & Economy

Solar power isn’t just good for our finances. It’s also good for creating jobs and stimulating the economy. A recent study from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts found that for every $1 million invested in the solar energy industry, you get about 14 jobs, compared to 13 jobs in the wind energy industry, 7 jobs in the coal industry, and 5 jobs in the natural gas industry. Looks like the winner is again solar!

The Rockefellers are getting out of oil and starting to buy the sun - what's next?!

Rockefellers to withdraw fossil fuel investments

BY ZACK COLMAN | SEPTEMBER 22, 2014 | 1:09 PM 

TOPICS: CLIMATE CHANGE PENNAVE UNITED NATIONS ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT OIL NATURAL GAS GREENHOUSE GASES

Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller is shown in this 1930 photo. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK — The scions of the American oil industry are divesting from fossil fuels.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, established by Standard Oil Co. tycoon John D. Rockefeller, will begin untangling its $860 million of investments from fossil fuels and shift those dollars toward renewable energy, the philanthropy will announce Monday.

The action is another symbolic step away from greenhouse-gas emitting fuels, which most scientists blame for warming the planet. It also shows the expanse of the "divest-invest" push led by environmental activists. The effort aims to persuade large endowments to shift their investments from fossil fuels to cleaner sources, such as renewable energy, that first targeted universities.

The theory is that policies aimed at restraining carbon emissions will make investing in fossil fuels more risky. Environmental activists point to credit downgrades of coal companies and coal-based utilities following proposed Obama administration cuts to carbon emissions from power plants as an example.

Events around New York timed around Tuesday's United Nations climate summit — such as a march Sunday that organizers say drew 300,000 — have underscored the push to address climate change.

The Rockefeller move highlights some of that sentiment. Standard Oil, after all, spawned the likes of ExxonMobil and Chevron.

The divesting movement is picking up steam. The Rockefeller announcement will come as part of a broader coalition of philanthropies, non-governmental organizations and faith groups that will reveal $50 billion worth of assets divesting from fossil fuels.

Philanthropies are a newer target. More than 160 environmentalists from 44 countries last week prodded philanthropies — particularly those that offer grants and other funds to projects aimed at curbing climate change — to pull investments in fossil fuel companies.

Institutional lenders also have begun exploring ways to offer more environmentally friendly options for their clients. Activists are pressuring traders as well — on Monday, they protested on Wall Street with a rally that reminded many of the Occupy movement.

But the divestment push is still fairly new and faces some roadblocks.

Deborah Gordon, director of the climate and energy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said she doesn't envision that markets — especially commodities traders — will quickly respond to longer-term climate threats.

"I'm a little less hopeful when it comes to the investment community," Gordon told the Washington Examiner. "They are very much trying to take advantage of the instance in trade. And climate change is very much not that."

Pension funds, too, are a bit trickier for the divestment movement. They're a big target, controlling billions of dollars in assets. But they are run by boards with a responsibility to their pensioners — and fossil fuel companies have provided fairly stable returns.

Scott Stringer, the comptroller for New York City, told the Washington Examiner that withdrawing the city's $160 billion pension fund from fossil fuel investments is "on the table," but he noted he is just one person on the board.

"I'm the fiduciary of the fund. It's not my money. There's five other people — I don't have a unilateral role in this," Stringer said at the People's Climate March on Sunday. "But there's so much more we can do, like on corporate governance. So we're looking at all those options."

A true Solar Legend rises in the midst of the fairway, to show the resilience of our modules — at Winding Brook Country Club.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

GOING SOLAR

Every second, our sun produces enough energy to sustain the Earth's needs for 500,000 years. Let's SOLARIZE it!