Reply #7: Gladly -

[waiting for hope]

First, I thought this was brilliant:

Edwards Initiative Would Train 150,000 American Workers A Year For "Green Collar" Jobs
Jul 13, 2007 12:29 PM

Des Moines, Iowa – Senator John Edwards today announced a new initiative he would pursue as President to ensure that regular Americans share in the benefits of the new energy economy. His investments in a new energy future are projected to create over a million new jobs economy-wide, and the new Green Collar Jobs training plan will offer job training and placement for up to 150,000 workers a year.

"We can turn the crisis of climate change into an opportunity for a new energy economy, right here in America – and Iowa in particular," Edwards said. "Now is the time to make sure that the economy of tomorrow is an all-aboard economy where nobody is left behind."

John Edwards has already proposed an ambitious plan to cap global warming pollution and reduce it by 80 percent by 2050. At the same time, he will sell carbon pollution permits to build a New Energy Economy Fund to bring struggling family farms back to life, revitalize America's manufacturing base and harness American innovation.

http://www.johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20070713-green-collar-jobs/
http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/environment/green-collar-jobs/

Edwards: Going Green Brings Manufacturing Jobs
By Thomas J. Sheeran, Associated Press Writer
Manufacturing.Net - July 06, 2007

CLEVELAND (AP) - Millions of manufacturing jobs can result from collaboration between blue-collar industries and environmental projects, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a union political gathering Thursday.

''The Blue Green Alliance really can create 1 million, 2 million new manufacturing jobs to replace some of the jobs that have been lost,'' Edwards told about 600 political activists from the United Steelworkers of America union at a conference on reviving U.S. manufacturing.

The Blue Green Alliance was formed last year by the union and the Sierra Club to promote job creation and work on environmental initiatives including global warming and development of solar and wind power.

The nation would benefit from taking the lead in developing fuel-efficient vehicles, the former North Carolina senator said.

''America ought to be leading the way in development of the technology that we need,'' he said. ''If we do it smart, we can actually replace a lot of the manufacturing jobs that have been lost in America.''

The nation has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs in three decades. The manufacturing share of the nation's work force has dipped from 20 percent in 1979 to 11 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

http://www.manufacturing.net/Edwards.aspx

I can't think of a better way to help save the environment while at the same time, taking pride in your work because it's part of the solution to help correct a horrible wrong.