Green Finance

Top 15 Green Blogs

Reposted from: GBB.org

There are over 6,000 blogs related to the environment on Technorati, and countless more news feeds, and webzines.. There are hundreds of high-quality, well-written green blogs, so it’s very difficult to limit the list to just 15. This list seeks to balance depth with breadth and rankings popularity with diversity. These blogs represent many different topics, from general interest to news to lifestyle to tech.

1. Treehugger - Launched in 2004 by serial entrepreneur and designer Graham Hill, Treehugger defined a new online green space and quickly ascended to the ranks of the web’s top blogs. With radio, forums, video, television, its own social bookmarking network, and more than 30,000 posts, Treehugger is a comprehensive resource for sustainable modern living. Treehugger publishes posts by over 30 writers around the world updating 24/7. Discovery recently bought Treehugger and the site is now partnered to Planet Green. It’s not hard to see why: with over 2 million unique visitors per month and a Technorati rank of 19, Treehugger is by far the biggest green blog online today. The content is focused on green news, products, and events. Read more…

Where Are the Green Jobs?

by chris santiago

If, like me and millions of other Americans, you’ve recently lost your job due to Economageddon, you may be wondering where these Green Jobs are that everyone keeps talking about. News reports say green is the fastest sector of the jobs market; the White House says it’s creating more and more green jobs. Well, where are these jobs, and how do you get one?

I could give a quick, snide answer and tell you to use something called a search engine. Or I could be a little more helpful and point you in the direction of a couple of good job boards, like Greenjobs, or the Green Jobs board at TreeHugger.com.

But what if you’re not a scientist, architect, or engineer?

What if you don’t have the skill set to start developing biofuels or teaching environmental science? As a recently laid-off print editor, for example, I’d love to jump into a growing (as opposed to a terminally ill) job sector, but how do I leverage the skills and experiences I already have and get a green job?

The good news is that most green companies—solar, wind, and biofuel outfits, for example—have plenty of non-technical positions that need to be filled, just like any other company. A green collar economy calls for an army of green accountants, green marketers, green PR flaks, green human resources reps, and so forth.

The even better news is that, just like your high school basketball coach told you, it’s the fundamentals that count. Networking (including meeting, greeting, and going to conferences on green subjects that matter to you) is much more likely to get you your next green job than sending out blind emails. Research and creative thinking won’t hurt either.

And of course there’s always that possibility of going back to school to get more green schools, although some would argue that you don’t necessarily need it.

Here’s my last piece of advice (and take it with a big, fat grain of salt, since I’m still looking for my next full-time gig myself): If none of these answers satisfies you, be an entrepreneur. Start your own green business, based on your own skills or inclinations. After all, as Gandhi said, if you want change in the world, you’ve got to be that change.

Photo Credit: Hillary Birch Vanaria

The 20 Most Popular Stories of 2009

By GreenBiz Staff

Oakland, CA — What to make of the 20 most-read stories among the 2,350 (or so) articles and blog posts we ran during 2009 on GreenBiz.com,ClimateBiz.com, GreenerBuildings.com,GreenerComputing.com andGreenerDesign.com

It’s hard to make head or tails of them, in terms of the themes, interests, or. Yes, packaging and Walmart seem to be two recurring themes. Rankings and ratings stories always rank high. Beyond that, 2009 seems a muddle — as, perhaps, in real life, it was. After all, what links termites and windvertising?

Themes or not, here are the stories of ours that you, dear reader, clicked on, Googled, Digged, Scribd, StumbledUpon, tweeted (and retweeted) and linked to the most. Do you see any noteworthy patterns or trends herein? Let us know if you do. Read more…

Obama: US spending necessary to create ‘green’ industry jobs

By Tom Raum

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — President Obama is promoting new U.S. spending to create tens of thousands of clean-technology jobs.

He outlined the initiative Friday after a weak government jobs report raised new questions about the sustainability of the recovery.

“Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the future, jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced,” Obama said.

Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits — to be paid for from last year’s $787 stimulus package — that he said would create some 17,000 “green” jobs. The money will go to projects including solar, wind and energy management.

He said more than 180 projects in over 40 states — including six projects in Arizona — would receive the tax credits.

He also called for an additional $5 billion in spending for clean energy manufacturing, an idea being promoted by Vice President Joe Biden.

Such initiatives are “an important step toward meeting the goal I’ve set of doubling the amount of renewable power we use in the next three years with wind turbines and solar panels built right here in the U.S. of A.,” Obama said.

Obama spoke after the Labor Department said the U.S. jobless rate was unchanged at 10 percent in December, following a decline the previous month. But the government’s broader measure of unemployment — which includes people who have stopped looking for work or can’t find full-time jobs — ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 17.3 percent.

That, plus the larger-than-expected loss of 85,000 jobs in December, put new pressure on the administration to step up job creation.

“The road to recovery is never straight,” Obama said, although he added that the trend is pointing toward an improving jobs picture.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio ridiculed Obama’s effort.

“Instead of wildly pivoting from one issue to the next, the Obama administration needs to listen to American families asking ‘where are the jobs?’ and employers calling on Washington to scrap … policies that are already costing jobs,” Boehner said.

After generating 23 million new jobs during the 1990s, the economy is coming off a lost decade, with no net increase in jobs. Even so, losses have been moderating substantially since mid-2009 as the U.S. economy slowly recovers from its worst recession in decades.

Looking ahead: Green business in 2010

By Melissa Hincha-Ownby

As 2009 comes to a close, I want to take a minute and look ahead at how green business can grow and prosper in 2010.

With the Copenhagen Climate Summit monopolizing much of the recent eco news coverage, it is hard to not to be down about the environmental future of the world. However, I don’t think everything always needs to be doom and gloom. Sure, we are in an environmental crisis right now and we absolutely have to act to stave off future catastrophe, but 2009 saw a lot of growth on the green business front and I am optimistic at how 2010 will pan out. 

Green Jobs I’ve already proclaimed 2009 to be the Year of the Green Job. Of course I don’t have the power to make an official mandate but in my opinion, green jobs went from being a topic discussed by environmental advocates to a topic being discussed by anyone, anywhere over the course of the year.  This warrants a personal proclamation.