Green Racine


Welcome to Green Racine!

Please check the page out and visit the links. I love Nuke and Wind Power. Still think we should drill here and drill now!
A wide mix here from Green power to why we need to end the Embargo on Cuba.
I see myself as being GREEN but far from an Al Gore Green Nazi.
Hope this page provokes thought if nothing else

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Upset

I love folks who want to help the Green movement in a awy that makes jobs for others as the project moves forward. The New North in Wisconsin is a good example of this.
However in the last few day I have ran across far to many folks who have an idea to do X, but no plan or even money to get the basic beginning steps of forming a business done.
To cap it off then expect everyone to work for free because well it's for the Earth. I will tell that to my bank when the next mortgage is due, I am working for The Earth or when I go to buy food.

Why in God's name do they think if they can not pay for a domain name or even a LLC that they can demand others to work for them at no pay?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Trains

I love trains, like I have said before here and on air. Trains are 1000% more effective in moving freight then anything else.
We need to and it looks like maybe Obama may invest the money to bring the rail lines the repairs needed. My ideal is to truck goods from factory to rail head ship then load back on trucks from rail head to stores etc.
As a short distance people mover (50 mi) it is a joke. Few ride and the taxes needed to keep them running could be used better. Yet the left is all about foolish things like KRM here in Wisconsin but will not touch WORKING transit systems like Amtrack.
Amtrack works and works well.
Any time I can I take Amtrack I enjoy the ride and comfort offered.

Note

IMHO the studies that show KRM to work are slanted work and are designed to be so.
I do not think KRM will get 25% of the ridershttp://www.letstalktrains.us/main.asphip thouse in surport claim and will cost millions more then KRM saids.

Here is a great site with further train info.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Will Allen Hero

Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations. In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded. Guiding all is his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as obesity and diabetes, largely are attributable to limited access to safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Rather than embracing the “back to the land” approach promoted by many within the sustainable agriculture movement, Allen’s holistic farming model incorporates both cultivating foodstuffs and designing food distribution networks in an urban setting. Through a novel synthesis of a variety of low-cost farming technologies – including use of raised beds, aquaculture, vermiculture, and heating greenhouses through composting – Growing Power produces vast amounts of food year-round at its main farming site, two acres of land located within Milwaukee’s city limits. Recently, cultivation of produce and livestock has begun at other urban and rural sites in and around Milwaukee and Chicago. Over the last decade, Allen has expanded Growing Power’s initiatives through partnerships with local organizations and activities such as the Farm-City Market Basket Program, which provides a weekly basket of fresh produce grown by members of the Rainbow Farmer’s Cooperative to low-income urban residents at a reduced cost. The internships and workshops hosted by Growing Power engage teenagers and young adults, often minorities and immigrants, in producing healthy foods for their communities and provide intensive, hands-on training to those interested in establishing similar farming initiatives in other urban settings. Through these and other programs still in development, Allen is experimenting with new and creative ways to improve the diet and health of the urban poor.

Will Allen received a B.A. (1971) from the University of Miami. After a brief career in professional basketball and a number of years in corporate marketing at Procter and Gamble, he returned to his roots as a farmer. He has served as the founder and CEO of Growing Power, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1995 and has taught workshops to aspiring urban farmers across the United States and abroad.

Obama Names Energy Team

President-elect Barack Obama has named key members of his energy and environment team, which includes Steven Chu as secretary of energy, Lisa Jackson as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Nancy Sutley as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Carol Browner as assistant to the president for energy and climate change and Heather Zichal as deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change.

"In the 21st century, we know that the future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked to one challenge: energy," says Obama. "The team that I have assembled here today is uniquely suited to meet the great challenges of this defining moment."

Chu is director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at University of California, Berkeley (UC-Berkeley). He won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 and has a degree in physics from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley.

Jackson became the head of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection in 2006. She currently serves as chief of staff for Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J. She is a professional engineer, having received her master's degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and her undergraduate degree from Tulane University in her hometown of New Orleans.

Sutley currently serves as the deputy mayor for energy and environment for Los Angeles. She received her master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.

Browner is principal of the Albright Group LLC, where she provides strategic counsel in the critical areas of environmental protection, climate change, and energy conservation and security. Prior to her current position, she served as administrator of the EPA.

Zichal currently serves as the co-chair for the energy and environment policy team for the Obama transition team. Zichal served as the policy director for energy, environment and agriculture for Obama's presidential campaign. She is a graduate of Rutgers University.

SOURCE: The Office of the President-elect

NOTE

AS much as I think Obama is wrong for this country and will mess up our energy policy like no tomorrow I wish him and his Government the best. WE all must rember that the Government does work for us and they do want our imput (well maybe not Democrats)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

End The Embargo on Cuba

The best way to beat the shit of of our guy Hugo in Venezuela and his game playing then by taking away one of his toys.
Right now Cuba is being used by Hugo to cause trouble for us and our allies in that area. Cuba after the end of the USSR is a country that has little or no resorse and even with the oil and gas found there has to import oil gas and other fuels ( Note to the left in USA, Cuba is building the roads refineries and pipelines needed to use the fuels please tell me why are you not protesting?)
This coutry NOT the PRC NOT Venezuela this country needs to be working with Cuba to bring those resorses to be used.
We need the gas/oil and could use the jobs that come with that work.

Cuba can use the food we could be exporting to Cuba and we sure could use the sugar they grow.
Doing so allows more Cubans to feed them selfs and their kin, a good thing. As you may know Cuba becuse of Castro can not feed themself's a true shame. Helping folks feed themself is a great way to make great freinds.

Are there issues with this yes. Perhaps we tie aid to the release of political prisoners a fine goal we should seek but should not be a deal killer since we did not do so with the PRC.
Perhas we need to get a deal where folks who left in the 60's could get paid for the land that Castro took again not a deal killer.
Cuba has a great deal more to offer us as an ally then an embargoed country lets remove that today!

Monday, December 15, 2008

The New North of Wisconsin

In The State of Wisconsin we have a group of Counties north of Fond do Lac working together formed The New North. One of the goals is to bring investments this area via getting more wind working as manufacturing/jobs creating cheep clean power.
This has been very very good for everyone in this area. New jobs investment in manufacturing has brought this to the New North. Good going !
Why can't the rest of the State get this going too?

KRM vs Amtrack

Amtrack moves 500K from Milwaukee to Chicago, is all ready built, connects to the Milwaukee airport is making money.
KRM is not built, no one know how many will ride or if any will ride, will not connect to the Milwaukee airport, will require millions a year in tax money in order to run.
So why do we not invest more into Amtrack?

Scholarships!

FYI.

In August, the Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG) Board of Directors voted to support the education of students enrolled in accredited college or vocational schools in programs related to power engineering, wind energy, or the maintenance of wind turbines. To this end, UWIG announced a scholarship program. To be eligible for scholarship assistance, a student must be currently enrolled at an accredited trade school or college in the United States or Canada in a field of study that could lead to a career related to utility power engineering or operation and maintenance of utility-scale wind equipment. These scholarships and stipends are intended to encourage completion of a college education or vocational degrees and programs, as well as to further the education of students, UWIG said.

UWIG may award up to three scholarships each year. Up to two $2,000 scholarships will be granted to students enrolled in an accredited engineering school who are pursuing a career in power engineering with a focus or major on wind generation, and up to one $1,000 scholarship to a student enrolled in an accredited wind technician program. The scholarships cover a single academic year and are not renewable. The $2,000 scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic term will be targeted toward students enrolled in undergraduate programs.

Application instructions and the application form can be found on the UWIG Web site at http://www.uwig.org/scholarshipprogram.html

The application deadline is February 16.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Green Job Training in Mass!

Authorized by the Green Jobs Act signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., the Energy and Environmental Affairs' new Pathways Out of Poverty grants are designed to jump-start training in clean energy careers for low- and moderate-income residents.

EEA will award five grants of $100,000 to $300,000 to each program that serves workers with incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty level ($63,600 for family of four). Grants will target programs in the commonwealth's gateway communities of Brockton, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester.

Grant applications are due to EEA by Jan. 15 for the programs that are expected to begin in February and last through June 2010.

"These grants will fund programs that prepare workers for good-paying jobs in this growing sector of the Massachusetts economy, giving low- and moderate-income individuals a path to self-sufficiency while building the skilled workforce our clean energy industry needs in order to thrive," says EEA Secretary Ian A. Bowles.

Projects eligible for Pathways Out of Poverty grants include job training and apprenticeship programs, relevant education, career coaching, and outreach and recruitment of unemployed participants. While grant applicants are not required to provide matching funds, EEA will give more weight in the selection process to projects that leverage funding from additional sources.

In addition to authorizing Pathways Out of Poverty grants, the Green Jobs Act created a new Clean Energy Technology Center that will support workforce development, university partnerships, R&D and clean energy entrepreneurship.

For more information, visit mass.gov.

SOURCE: Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Monday, December 8, 2008

So much

Green Racine focus will be no focus! After days if not weeks of thought and refection on what to talk about. Why limit the writing at all? As long as it is about green living and/or improving how we do so.
So come along on the trip for as I keep hearing it's the journey should be a wild one.
Feel free to join in the only think I ask is to be respectful when writing some even I need to remember from time to time.

Bring the oil sands!

Let us go forward and bring the Oil Sands to Wisconsin! Oh that is right we can not do this makes sense for both jobs and energy needs. Call the Energy Elf!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Vestas Expands

Danish wind turbine supplier Vestas is seeking to consolidate its presence in Portland, Ore., by building a new headquarters for Vestas Americas, the company's business unit responsible for wind turbine sales, installation, and service and maintenance in North America.

Vestas Americas has been headquartered in Portland since 2002. In addition to the headquarters, Portland is home to one of Vestas' regional IT centers, a tools warehouse and the Vestas Business Academy training facility.

The proposed new headquarters, which is expected to be over 500,000 square feet in size and LEED Platinum certified, will consolidate Vestas' presence in Portland, as well as allow for future growth.

As negotiations are in process, Vestas cannot, at this point, confirm the sites it is considering for development. The company is currently working with the state of Oregon and city of Portland to leverage development, tax and financing options.

"The decision by Vestas to recommend building their new North American headquarters here sends a strong message that even in these difficult economic times, Portland has the confidence of companies willing to bring family wage jobs to the city," says Portland Mayor Tom Potter. "It also provides further validation of Portland's international reputation as a leading green city."

As the American wind industry continues to grow, Vestas Americas' desire to expand its headquarters in Portland also means further opportunities to form partnerships with Oregon's community colleges and universities to increase collaboration on wind energy programs and build a talented workforce for the company.

In addition, Vestas has just opened a new research and development hub in Boston. In 2009, the company will open a research center in Houston.

SOURCE: Vestas

Green Racine Reflections My Errors

Errors, I have made a few with Green Racine not looking for a pity party or forgiveness just the good that comes from saying I made mistakes and must overcome them.
No one's perfect not happening. The mistakes I have comes with not having a focus and well fear.
So I list them
1) Not putting names to groups who I feel are nothing more then blood sucking lobbyists. They are not playing nice now what more are they going to do?
2) Not updating this blog because few look at it. Know I do this for me and should care less about leading. If folks like the info I put out great if not OK
3) Do the products to support Green Racine the Coffee Cups and shirts.
4) Call out the Green Groups that have no clue and point out errors.
5) Having faith
6) Not doing more with The REC.

refections part 1

As I look back at Green Racine in the past year I find interesting refections:
How nice WE Energy is to work with
How cute baby Falcons are
The number of "Green" folks that have no clue
The fact that many inner city kids have no idea where food come from
The wealth of knowledge our elders have that is being lost
What a great place the Racine Environmental Center is and how wonderful Ben the Director is. In the same vain the impact that one place like the REC can have. Praise God for this. Praise God for Ben. BTW if you do not like my praise of God too bad. :)