We keep hearing about the massive investments in green jobs that are coming.  

Fastcompany has an article that serves as a guide to sustainability focused career paths.  They list 10 job categories which are likely to benefit from the welcome focus on green jobs.  The article includes descriptions, degree-granting schools, related careers and companies that are hiring for each of the ten as appropriate.  Here's the list:

A large group of NW Environmental organizations are hosting a set of three seminars entitled, Seeking Sustainable Solutions: Linking our Health, our Environment, our Economy, our Communities.  Here's the line up:

1.  Energy and Water in the West: Priorities for a Healthy Washington - Feb. 11.  Michael Hightower, Sandia National Lab, and Joan Crooks, Washington Environmental Council

2.  Intersection of Climate Change and Water: Local Perspective on a Global Problem - March 25.  Philip Mote, UW Climate Impacts Group, and Steve Malloch, National Wildlife Federation

3.  Exploring Energy & Design: Smart Solutions for the Built Environment - May 13.  Alan Durning, Sightline Institute, and Jason McLennan, Cascadia Region Green Building Council

David Dicks, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership spoke at a People for Puget Sound forum on Dec. 4th, a few days after the new Puget Sound Partnership Action Plan had been presented to the public.  Aside from my notes below, his talk is also available as a video at the website for People for Puget Sound.

The Process

Startling research released this week indicates that males of all species, including human, are suffering from the flow of toxic "gender-bending" chemicals in the water around the globe.  CHEMTrust, a UK-based organization was set up in 2007 to protect humans and wildlife from harmful chemicals.  The report they just published, "Effect of Pollutants on the Reproductive Health of Male Vertebrate Wildlife - Males Under Threat" draws on 250 scientific studies on endocrine disrupters, also called gender-benders.

The report, which is available on their website in several forms, concludes:

The three Bay Area mayors, Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, Chuck Reed of San Jose and Ron Dellums of Oakland, announced a policy plan to transform the Bay Area into the Electric Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S.  The three Mayors said that they would work with the region’s cities, counties, regional governmental organizations as well as with private sector partners to plan and implement the region’s economic and environmental future around electric transportation.

A group of concerned scientists met in Friday Harbor yesterday to talk about the decline of the Puget Sound orca population and how the health of the salmon population and the Sound impact orcas.  According to an article in the Kitsap Sun, the group thought that people might be activated to save the Puget Sound ecosystem as they come to understand its impact on salmon and orca.  The orca population in the Sound has declined by 7 this year, dropping it to the lowest since 2003.