FL Celebrate National Green Jobs Day of Action
Largo, Fla. – Largo, Fla. joined nearly 700 communities around the country by participating in “Green Jobs Now: A Day to Build the New Economy.” During a community forum hosted by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Monday, Sept. 29, energy experts discussed market trends, local projects and national efforts calling for federal legislation designed to support programs for green-collar jobs to stimulate our flagging economy.
“Going green provides tremendous economic potential, not only for businesses, but for hard working men and women who deserve jobs that can pay the bills and put food on the table,” stated Stephen A. Smith, executive director of SACE. “We are seeing a number of southern states beginning to embrace the importance and urgency of dealing with the issues of global warming and climate change while securing the future of our economy. This is not something that we can afford to neglect.”
The Largo event attracted a full room with more than 75 citizens and included speakers from the city of Largo, and local Pinellas County companies, including Solar Source, Eco-Tech Construction and The Climate Group. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy chose to host the event in Largo, Fla. based on the city’s recent decision to sign the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which commits cities to reduce their global warming pollution. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy hopes to expand the education forum, “Green Jobs: Conversations About a New Economy” to neighboring Florida cities which have also signed the agreement.
“With almost 700 events held in all 50 states that were attended by more than 100,000 participants, these “Green Jobs” events collectively represented one of the largest and most diverse days of citizen action in the history of America,” stated Nick Algee, Florida Organizer with SACE. “The collective energy at these events shows how enthusiastic people are to shift to clean energy, putting more people to work and revitalizing our economy during a time when many Americans are hurting.”
Green for All, one of the host organizations of the national event, also released a new white paper titled “Clean Energy Corps: Jobs, Service, and Equal opportunity in America’s Clean Energy Economy.” The report details the proposal of the Clean Energy Corps, a call for legislation that would combine service, training, and job creation efforts to combat global warming, grow local and regional economies and demonstrate the equity and employment promise of the clean energy economy. To view the report please visit: www.greenforall.org # # # Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization thatpromotes responsible energy choices that create global warmingsolutions and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughoutthe Southeast.