A group in Cincinnati has converted an old, vacant building to create a green tech lab for green construction and design projects.

The Ford training center in the Twin Cities has plans to close its doors by 2011 and will lay off hundreds of employees in the process. A few area groups have decided to use this manufacturing site as a green jobs training program for wind turbine manufacturing and installation, and light rail car production.

Here are a couple of examples of how greening our defunct manufacturing and industry plants in this country can help create jobs well within reach of those laid off factory workers, as well as help the U.S. to once again make products, all while helping the environment and hard-hit communities.

Not only will new jobs be created in this process, necessary training will also take place. …read more of Greening American Industry here

Among his first acts of business as President, Barack Obama has taken two separate actions to clean up the auto industry. He has asked the Department of Transportation to begin implementing a 2007 law requiring gas mileage standards to improve 40% by 2016, a law the Bush administration ignored after it was passed by congress.

His other move was more controversial: it was a request that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reconsider an application from 14 states that would allow them to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from automobiles. The same request was denied under the Bush administration.

California took the lead in requesting authority to implement limits at the state level that would require automobile GHG emissions to fall 30% by 2016. 13 other states have joined California in petitioning the EPA for this right: Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Opposition comes from the Republican Party and US auto industry, which raise several fears: …read more of Obama’s Plan for Green Autos here

Well, it finally happened.  Automakers finally got their bailout, excuse me … loan.  After sitting on the fence for far longer than they should have, the Bush Administration took action late last week to stave off bankruptcy for two of the nation’s leading automotive manufactures by appropriating $17.4 billion to GM and Chrysler.  The plan would provide the two companies with $13.4 billion immediately, but would require that they show proof of fiscal viability by the end of March; something many experts believe will be near impossible to do.  This money will not be new funding, but rather will be appropriated from the first $350 billion of the $700 billion passed by Congress a few months ago to aid the financial industry.  GM would have access to an additional $4 billion, assuming they prove they can be a viable company, out of the next allocation of $350 billion.

…read more of Auto Bailout Done here

My father always told me that if you are going to ask for money, make sure you ask for enough so that you don’t have to come back for more.  Well the Big 3 have come a begging and although they’ve asked for more than their original 25 billion, their new request of 34 billion has economists scratching their heads.  Many estimate that the auto industry needs as much as $125 billion to survive, which begs the question, are the US tax payers being asked to throw money into a black hole?

…read more of Big 3 Bailout Plans Released here

When Bush and Obama met at the White House on Monday, one of the main topics of conversation was extending the recent $700 billion bailout to the U.S. auto industry. After all, why should the feds bailout Wall Street and not Detroit? Well, there’s always the decades of inefficiency, mismanagement, inferior products… bad business. However, if the U.S. auto industry collapses millions of jobs and billions in tax revenue could be lost in the short-term and there is speculation that this could push the current Great Recession into a full-blown depression.

The good news is that Barack Obama seems intent on doing more than just propping up the Big Three—GM, Ford, and Chrysler—so that they can continue with business as usual: he has indicated that as a condition of the bailout, the auto industry would have to become part of his comprehensive energy and environmental policy. The Obama/Biden “New Energy for America” plan states, “We must act quickly and we must act boldly to transform our entire economy—from …read more of Green Detroit here