In celebration of Green Careers For Dummies, we are launching a series of Green Career Tips inspired by the book. Just watch for our tweets that includes #greencareers.

Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CarolMcClelland

You can also follow the tips and book news by…

• Becoming a Fan of our Green Careers For Dummies Facebook page.

• Connecting with Carol McClelland on LinkedIn to read her updates.

• If you aren’t on any of these social networking sites, you use http://search.twitter.com to search for #greencareers… over time you’ll be able to pull up all of our Green Career Tips this way.

Expand Your Green Network - An Interactive Networking Event
Thursday, January 21, 2010
6 pm Pacific / 9 pm Eastern
$29 non members / $19 members

Building a strong, vibrant green network is one of the most important steps you can take to find your green career. Knowing a diverse group of people who are well connected, share your values, and are willing to help you is invaluable. Each month we will hold a networking event to give you the skills, experience, and confidence you need to build your network. These events will take place by phone so you can participate no matter where you live. During this month’s event you’ll learn a valuable networking strategy, practice the strategy on the call, meet other people who share your values, and gain confidence in your networking skills.

Sign up for the Expand Your Green Network Event!

• Wednesday, February 27th - How to Create a Green Career that Engages You

• Saturday, February 6th at 2 pm we’ll be having a live book signing event at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, California. Please plan to join us if you are in the area. We’ll have more information soon.

• Governors and mayors are taking actions to decrease carbon emissions. As of this week, 1016 mayors have signed the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement to reduce their community’s carbon emissions. By my review of the map, every state of the union is represented by at least one mayor. Is your city listed? Hover over your state to see the list of cities that have signed the agreement. If your town is listed, familiarize yourself with the green initiatives happening in your area. Read your local paper, do searches online, talk to people in your City Hall.

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• Although there’s no clear picture of what a national cap and trade program would look like or even if Congress can come to consensus on such a program, regions of the United States and Canada are already working together to address carbon emissions through cap and trade systems of various designs. In total, 33 states are involved in the following regional systems. Is your state represented? Learn more about how the program works. Then think about how your skills and background might apply.

• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States

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• Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord - Midwestern States and two Canadian Provinces

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• Western Climate Initiative (WCI) - Western states and four Canadian provinces.

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• If you’ve read our newsletters before, or our Green Career Central Blog, you know that private enterprises are receiving funds from various sources including governmental loans, contracts, grants, and loan guarantees (see www.recovery.gov for more details) and from venture capitalists. There’s no question that financial investments in green companies and innovations is a promising sign for the state of the green economy.

• A study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley projects job growth of up to 1.9 million jobs if/when we have a comprehensive policy for clean energy. See the Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation report for more details.

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• A Next 10 report demonstrates that green job creation occurs at a faster rate than total jobs within California. To explore the actual statistics, refer to an LA Times summary of the report.

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• The Pew Charitable Trust offers data showing the number of clean energy businesses has grown dramatically between 1998 – 2007, leading to job creation. Check out the Executive Summary of The Clean Energy Economy report for the specifics.

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• These companies created 125,000 jobs at a rate 15 percent faster than the overall California economy.

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• At a Federal level, changes are unfolding as well, especially within the Environmental Protection Agency. Several steps have been taken since January 2008 to set the stage for regulating six greenhouse gases. Although there are a number of very technical steps to creating governmental policies that I’m not describing fully in this summary, these milestones have been achieved:

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• The EPA concluded that global warming endangers both the environment and people.

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• The EPA created a reporting system to track the emissions of companies and organizations that are known greenhouse gas emitters.

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• The Supreme Court confirmed that is it the EPA’s responsibility to address problems associated with greenhouse gases by means of the Clean Air Act.

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• The EPA has started the proposal process to limit emissions from vehicles through fuel efficiency by 2016.

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• Congress passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, stimulus package) has had an ongoing impact on the development of the green economy through investments in research, training, and companies. With funds slated to be distributed through 2012, we can expect to see continued developments as a result of this Act.

• Kerry and Boxer presented their version of the climate/energy bill in late September, which focuses on jobs, national security regarding energy sources, protecting future generations, and developing domestic sources of energy.

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• The Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act out of committee on November 5, 2009.

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• Currently six committees are working to create a bill that can be brought to the entire Senate. The committees involved are: Environment and Public Works, Energy, Commerce, Foreign Relations, Finance, and Agriculture.

Membership Has Its Advantages!

• Green Careers For Dummies – Announcements about the book launch and a page where we’ll be posting updates to the site.
  
• Free Publications - links to our newsletter archives, our podcast, and the Green Career Central Blog
  
• Events for All – links to teleclasses, our new networking events, and upcoming coaching programs.
  
• Resources to Explore the Green Economy – links to our Green Economy Map (launching in this week’s teleclass), industry profiles, interviews with green industry experts and those who have green careers.
  
• Resources to Find Green Jobs – links to the Green Career Central job board, over 80 green job board reviews, and green company lists.
  
• Green Education Resources – links to schools, training programs, and our green business center.
  
• Site Features – links to our store, bookstore, discussion forum and downloadable files.