<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Obama’s Clean Energy Service Corps will train people for green jobs—eventually]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by alexstack http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:22:08 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/1 I dont think the money is worth. I mean $11,000 that is not good enough for me. And probably a lot of other people.

]]> I dont think the money is worth. I mean $11,000 that is not good enough for me. And probably a lot of other people.

]]> Comment #2 by Erik Hoffner http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/ Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:49:03 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/2 Alex, sure, but internships generally don't pay all that well. It's more about experience, but of course everyone has to balance their financial needs when considering service opportunities. I did 5 semi-paid internships after college, and I still benefit from that time.

On the flip side, if you're with a grassroots group that wants to hire Americorps members and you've so far found the process a little overwhelming, the Orion Grassroots Network is hosting a conference call next Wed, 4/29, to dispel some of the confusion. More here. Email us for the call in info if you want to join us.

Erik, Orion Grassroots Network

]]> Alex, sure, but internships generally don't pay all that well. It's more about experience, but of course everyone has to balance their financial needs when considering service opportunities. I did 5 semi-paid internships after college, and I still benefit from that time.

On the flip side, if you're with a grassroots group that wants to hire Americorps members and you've so far found the process a little overwhelming, the Orion Grassroots Network is hosting a conference call next Wed, 4/29, to dispel some of the confusion. More here. Email us for the call in info if you want to join us.

Erik, Orion Grassroots Network

]]> Comment #3 by liasa http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/ Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:28:54 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/3 $11,000 to $22,000 is actually quite high for an AmeriCorps position. I served in AmeriCoprs twice; once in a residental program that paid room and board and I got a total of $4000 plus the education award for my 10.5 months of service, and once in a more traditional program where I had to pay for my own room and board and I got a total of $9500 plus the education award for my 10.5 months of service.

Plus the whole point of AmeriCorps and this new Clean Energy Corps is not to think of it as a real job, but service to your country and a great training opportunity, so it's like volunteering and receiving a living stipend pay your bills with. The jobs that are offered through AmeriCorps are given to people who probably wouldn't normally qualify for the jobs because they are given a lot of training and support through the program.


I think this sounds like a great opportunity and I am really excited that there are going to be so many more opportunities for people to serve thier country in a helpful, non-violent manner.


]]> $11,000 to $22,000 is actually quite high for an AmeriCorps position. I served in AmeriCoprs twice; once in a residental program that paid room and board and I got a total of $4000 plus the education award for my 10.5 months of service, and once in a more traditional program where I had to pay for my own room and board and I got a total of $9500 plus the education award for my 10.5 months of service.

Plus the whole point of AmeriCorps and this new Clean Energy Corps is not to think of it as a real job, but service to your country and a great training opportunity, so it's like volunteering and receiving a living stipend pay your bills with. The jobs that are offered through AmeriCorps are given to people who probably wouldn't normally qualify for the jobs because they are given a lot of training and support through the program.


I think this sounds like a great opportunity and I am really excited that there are going to be so many more opportunities for people to serve thier country in a helpful, non-violent manner.


]]> Comment #4 by Sean Casten http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/ Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:52:01 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-23-obamas-clean-energy-service/4 This seems to miss the point.  You only need to create federal job training funds if there isn't a natural market pull for those jobs in the first place.  (No one had to create financial analyst job training programs, after all - students volunteered to learn that stuff on their own nickel.)

That's not to say that there isn't a role for training.  But I'd much rather see the gov't focus on removing the regulatory barriers to deploying clean energy (creating a market pull) than trying to flood the market with lightly trained interns but not increasing the demand for their services.

Speaking as someone who's hired a lot of people to work in clean energy jobs, the barrier removal is vastly more important.  And while there are shortages of certain talents, they are not in the kind of areas where an $11,000 internship is suddenly going to cure.  For example, I'd like more potential employees with really robust understandings of thermodynamics and high-voltage electric power.  Those are 4 year degree programs plus a fair amount of experience.  An internship may well put someone on a track to fill in those needs, but I don't personally see any problem finding young people who'd like to work in the field but are short on experience.  The problem is that the industry fights against so many regulatory barriers that while young people get excited to get started in the field, very few have opportunities to stay in it and really develop a useful set of expertise.  So let's remove the barriers.  Absent that focus, this isn't anything more than a good soundbite.

(So too with much of the green jobs movement, I fear.)

]]> This seems to miss the point.  You only need to create federal job training funds if there isn't a natural market pull for those jobs in the first place.  (No one had to create financial analyst job training programs, after all - students volunteered to learn that stuff on their own nickel.)

That's not to say that there isn't a role for training.  But I'd much rather see the gov't focus on removing the regulatory barriers to deploying clean energy (creating a market pull) than trying to flood the market with lightly trained interns but not increasing the demand for their services.

Speaking as someone who's hired a lot of people to work in clean energy jobs, the barrier removal is vastly more important.  And while there are shortages of certain talents, they are not in the kind of areas where an $11,000 internship is suddenly going to cure.  For example, I'd like more potential employees with really robust understandings of thermodynamics and high-voltage electric power.  Those are 4 year degree programs plus a fair amount of experience.  An internship may well put someone on a track to fill in those needs, but I don't personally see any problem finding young people who'd like to work in the field but are short on experience.  The problem is that the industry fights against so many regulatory barriers that while young people get excited to get started in the field, very few have opportunities to stay in it and really develop a useful set of expertise.  So let's remove the barriers.  Absent that focus, this isn't anything more than a good soundbite.

(So too with much of the green jobs movement, I fear.)

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