Gov. Green's new corps
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have found the perfect marriage between his ballyhooed green sensibilities and less conspicuous credentials as a byproduct of California's community college system: a new program to train at-risk youths as solar installers and wind-energy workers.
Dubbed the California Green Corps, the program will educate the next generation of green workers at schools such as Santa Monica College, which includes Schwarzenegger among its alumni. Financing will come in part from $10 million in federal stimulus money.
“President Obama and I share similar priorities right now when it comes to helping the economy rebound and creating a greener California and America,” Schwarzenegger said during an announcement Monday afternoon at American River College in suburban Sacramento.
A 20-month pilot program is expected to reach at least 1,000 at-risk young adults and create 10 Green Corps chapters around the state.
-- Eric Bailey
Photo: Solar installers at work in Long Beach. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
It only makes sense to turn the GREEN movement into a profitable one...that's what make the world go round. Speaking of being green and making green...I'm a contractor and stumbled onto a site that Matt mentioned above: Diggerslist.com. I usually have so much stuff left over on my jobs, I usually throw most of it out or have to store it in my garage. It's great that I can sell it now to people who know what to do with it. Habitat for Humanity warehouses have their listings here and they have all kinds of great stuff. From green corps to green websites it's looking up for mother nature.
Posted by: Jack | April 08, 2009 at 04:30 PM
Love the idea of the Green Corps but hate the fact that there is absolutely no information about the program. Who's heading it, what agency will it be attached to, when does it begin, how do people apply for a grant? No info on the state's website nor in the "fact sheet."
Posted by: Linda Coburn | March 25, 2009 at 09:10 AM
Great information Eric since this is an important step in the right direction for California. Oakland has been at the fore-front of this change and has already created a Green Jobs Corps of it's own thats been getting a lot of attention.
Check it out http://www.ellabakercenter.org/index.php?p=gcjc_green_jobs_corps_press_conf
Posted by: Abel | March 17, 2009 at 01:56 PM
Lets all get greener...use our natural resources better. Don't throw away your leftover building materials, sell them on Diggerslist.com
Posted by: Matt | March 16, 2009 at 11:34 PM