26 Feb 2008

Met with Bob yesterday to talk about work plan and dissertation ideas.

Work plan:
1. Case studies of [job creation through green growth?] Bob mentioned Hermann Scheer's book Solar Economy and said there may be some international examples in there.
2. Types of subsidies given to fossil fuels. Different definition of subsidies.
3. Criticisms of green growth plans. E.g., the governor of Kansas has apparently come under criticism for his. Learn why.

Plan of attack:
Compile sources for #1 (and maybe #2). Begin with Green for All website.

Dissertation discussion:
Mostly comforting - talked about how it's natural to have vague ideas at this point.
Technical stuff should follow ideas, not other way around.
Anything having to do with green collar jobs will be useful and make a contribution.
I mentioned public/private several times - Bob noticed this
Tradeoff between clean energy and jobs? e.g., what if could Reduce GHGs by 90% w/ no jobs vs. reduce GHGs by 70% with lots of job creation.
Program evals of green growth jobs creation plans.

END OF DAY
Spent day going through resources page at Green for All website http://www.greenforall.org/resources/spotlight.html
Followed leads where appropriate; ended with Richmond, CA
Seems like a number of cities have projects in the works, but few have begun projects. Not a whole lot of information available on the programs.
New report to come out in March 2008 (?) with case studies - a guide for cities in creating Green Collar jobs, sponsored by Apollo Alliance, CAP, COWS.
Questions: Many "green collar jobs" are created through projects to reduce energy use/clean up environment - are we looking for projects that explicitly name job creation as an objective? Need to clarify what, exactly, I am looking for.

TOMORROW
Begin with Solar Richmond and continue down list.
Look over the Sources page for other reports/online resources that could be easily found.
Move on to fossil fuel subsidies if break is needed.