DISQUS

toosinbeymen · 1 year ago

Here's a silly idea on how to save energy. All the transformers that we all have can be replaced with automatically switched units. Now we plug them in and they draw power continuously. A new design would switch the power off when the item it provides power for is not being used. Duh!

Robert · 1 year ago

This is spot on. Green collar jobs will be an essential part of rebuilding our economy. After the Cooper Lighting factory in Chicago moved to China, the Green Exchange (www.greenexchange.com) bought the building to create a green business office and retail mall. The developers worked with the Alderman with the hopes of creating jobs to replace those lost when the factory was shuttered.

Gordon Moore · 11 months ago

The people around me who work in the Oil Fields are upset that Oil has gone to$54 a barrel. This means there is less revenue for states like New Mexico and Alaska. That money keeps alot of people with jobs. Also it seems that people who think we can turn "green" should be disturbed as well. What the US should be doing right now is stockpiling this $54 dollar a barrel oil for when the price goes back up because it's a bargain.

Two things the US could do right now that would create jobs!

1. Build a gas pipeline from Alaska to the US. Natural gas is a clean burning fuel
2. Build storage facilities to house this $54 dollar a barrel oil and stockpile it.

People would have good jobs.
The country would take a positive step to get rid of it's dependence on foreign oil.

Leia · 8 months ago

Unfortunately, both of the options you are suggesting are not able to be sustained. Developing jobs in the green industry is something that will not run out, like the oil supply. Investing in oil at $54 per barrel is simply that, investing in oil.

Creating jobs in the green industry and moving from conventional technology to high-performing technologies is something that will be needed for many, many years to come, well as long as people are driving cars, living in buildings, and consuming goods.

Giving people cheaper oil is not going to solve the crisis we are facing, not only as a nation but as a world, as a civilization.

Remember the old saying "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime". Well as long as we continue to shelter ourselves by finding ways to keep oil prices low, we will have no desire implement the alternatives that are available.

Creating jobs in this industry will teach us how to become energy independent. It is not simply our dependence on foreign oil, it is our lack of understanding of the available alternatives.

Jane · 9 months ago

I hope a rebate or tax deduction for winterizing homes will be offered. My elderly mom lives in a wooden frame farmhouse (style) which has no insulation, windows are 60 years old and she keeps the thermostat at 62 to save money. Still much gas is being wasted. We kids don't want to visit her it's so cold. If she had a bit of money to fix the problem she could stay in her home longer and we and others would be willing to help her with chores during winter months. She wears 6 layers of clothes and still spends a fortune on gas heating. Too many of the elderly will blow their meager fixed earnings on making gas companies rich, leaving surviving children without an inheritance.