Sustainable Ideas...

Have you heard about a sustainable skateboarding company in Ithaca, NY, called Comet Skateboards. This company uses materials for the board and adhesives that can be grown in a year, locally, sustainably, and safely. I read about it recently in an article my fellow Ithaca College (IC) senior, Michael Berlin, wrote "Sustainable Punk," which has appeared in The Nation, Campus Progress, and IC's own alternative magazine, Buzzsaw Haircut.

Not only does the CEO of Comet Skateboards, Jason Salfi, worry about profit, but about the environment and keeping the local economy of Ithaca intact; instead of "Sucking from the oil nipple..." because that "...isn't going to help anything," said Salfi. "Having a bio-based solution that isn't influenced by a crazy geopolitical climate is a good solution."

In Berlin's article, he also talks about green jobs. He explains also that congress worked on green-blue collar jobs in the Green Jobs Act of 2007 to appropriate $125 million for new green job training and implementation. But that's not going to make enough of an impact because we need white-green collar jobs too. We will need them for the people who get the new training and for people already in white collar work that need a push in the green direction.

If you google: Green Jobs, you'll find about 6,930,000 hits and many opportunities that I am sure could be great for you. It's a start, but that's not enough. Legislators need to step it up and make more blue and white green collar jobs ASAP because the climate crisis and many eco-systems on the planet really are in their 11th Hour.

The presidential candidates have promised things along these lines. Hillary has promised at least 5 million new green jobs by 2050 and Barack has promised similar goals and will need those jobs for all of his other energy promises. John has promised dramatically less money than the Democratic candidates towards green research and implementation, but still discusses green jobs.

Law makers and small business owners alike need to be part of this journey towards environmental justice with green jobs in the white and blue sector in order to combat climate change. Well done Berlin, more education about this will put us that much closer to the solution.