Month: August 2009

What Truly Motivates Us? It’s Not What You Think!

This period of time for small business owners like me  challenges the imagination. It is a whole new playing field and a differenct set of rules. I am confident of my products, have a proven track record of success but the truth is funding dollars have dwindled and nonprofits, at least, are thinking up new ways to leverage their impact that may or may not include monetary methods.

During this time I’ve decided to do more creative writing and spend time in the presence of creative entrepreneurs who offer light in the shadowy path of an evolving new economy. TED.com is a constant source for innovation in business, social and scientific thinking. This link takes you to a presentaion by Dan Pink, career analyst. Pink’s address is startling: he debunks the old idea that money is a  motivation for performance. I highly recommend you put your feet up and take time to listen to this. It encouraged me to view the new business environment as one that is creating an opportunity for the best kind of work to evolve in America.

GoingGreenJobs.com – a new resource

Last week CareerBuilder.com launched a new employment service site for green jobs:

“GoingGreenJobs.com specializes in connecting job seekers interested in environmentally friendly jobs to quality employers. Whether you are looking for a specific green-collar job or a position with a company with sustainable business practices, GoingGreenJobs.com provides opportunities at all skill levels and varying industries.”

GoingGreenJobs.com is facinating to dip into. For one thing it may help my community learn what other communities are listing as “green jobs.”

At the top of the page are twenty categories to search under. I have perused the list of jobs under each and have been surprised by the variety of jobs that don’t necessarily seem “green.”

Also, I find that the categories are not intuitive. For example, under “Earth Jobs” are numerous listings for writers of software, as well as the expected GIS jobs. I would be interested in what others think about this site and its usefulness.

I commend CareerBuilder for making a stab at this developing workforce area and will keep playing with it and give you an update later.

Another site online since 2008 is JustMeans.com which is a site that connects socially consicous people with jobs one might call “good work” in the wake of E.F. Schumacher’s little book, Good Work (1979.)

Good work is socially responsible, encourages the creativity and good nature in people on both sides of the counter, and may or may not make you wealthy but is sure to make you happy. Good work leaves the environment in tact or improved, promotes local entrepreneurial efforts, creates community among people, supports good health, and is spiritual in nature.

Just click on their client link and scan the companies that advertise jobs with JustMeans. You can click on any of them to follow their activities and news.

Be well,

Susan

Green Job Dollars Flow Away from Pensacola

I’ve been frustrated that our community is not able to apply for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 grant dollars ($2-5M) in green jobs areas maybe because we have not spent the time identifying all the job areas that could be considered “green.” In a short research effort this moring I found a green jobs listing for Canada, under the title “Good Work.” There is a broad range of what it means to be green and I think could lead us in the right direction.

Also, Escambia County has a Green UP program but when I went to the url it was no longer a hot link. I could find no reference to it anywhere on the MyEscambia site. I called their number today and got the Engineering Department for Escambia. The receptionist did not know anything about the Green Up program and transferred me to another person whose voice mail clicked in. I left a message and hopefully will know more by the end of the day.

Is anyone else finding it difficult to come up with a list like this for their communities. Conversely, do any of you readers live where it has been done and have a link or a contact that I can research or speak to?

This is money flowing right past our community. The grant initiative is here.

Chilling Predictions

New conversation develops on the Hill regarding climate change as a security threat.

Anthony C. Zinni, former head of the Central Command and retired Marine, made a chilling observation that we’ll either pay for reduction of green house gas emissions now or pay later with human lives in numerous conflicts induced by worldwide destablilization. His remarks were covered in a NY Times article reported by John M. Broder on a new conversation develping in Washington about climate change as a security threat. Mass migrations due to food shortages, conflicts over water and resources, and resentment toward the country that has put more carbon emissions in the atmosphere per capita than any other – U.S. – have long been sighted as potential impacts of a warming planet by the scientific community and governments  (IPCC Reports). The Pentagon is taking climate change a lot more seriously and none too soon.

Coal Industry in a Death Spiral

The American coal industry, rather than fully embracing the imperative to transition to a low carbon based economy, is gathering its resources to keep the status quo.  A recent article in the NY Times reports continued use of fraudulent letters and “guerilla war” campaign tactics to lobby Democrats on Capitol Hill.

With leaders in the coal industry making absurd rationalizations such as the Appalachian people’s need for “flat land” as a justifications for blowing off mountain tops, how can public officials take them seriously?

I can only surmise that rather than getting on with development of  green energy technologies, coal industry leaders and their armies must realize that the path toward “clean coal technology” is flawed and that the coal industry is in a death spiral. Why else such desperate measures? Bookmark  Open Source Coal a new resource coming online soon.

Countdown to Copenhagen Climate Change Summit

350.org coalition calls for more actions in support of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit when benchmarks for reducing [CO2] will be set.

If you are not connected to 350.0rg I highly recommend that you put this coalition of hundreds of organizations around the world on your radar. 350 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide concentration is the international target for protecting the Earth’s biosphere from impacts of global warming. We are at 387 ppm now.

What’s happening at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit? In December world leaders will come together to establish the benchmarks for saving the planet’s living systems. Nothing less. 170 countries will be represented. Information from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides the basis for planning and discussion. Find the abstracts. You will find the data riveting. We cannot ignore this anymore.

To read timely and in depth analysis of U.S. Climate Change policy and environmental news, I recommend Dot Earth, Andrew Rivkin’s blog.

Susan