Weekly Assignment #10

1. Values Framework

The "Green-Collar Youth Jobs, Education, and Training Stimulus Act" that was introduced in the Senate on January 15, 2009 has two main focuses: protection / preservation of the environment and economic development. Of these issues, it seems that the environmental considerations weigh a bit more heavily on the proposed legislation, since four out of the five Purposes listed are to address environmental issues. These Purposes include increasing "knowledge of the importance of building a green economy," increasing "energy efficiency and renewable energy usage," strengthening "protection of the environment," and decreasing carbon emissions. The fifth Purpose of the bill is focused more on economic development: "to increase the number of well-trained youth workers who can obtain well-paying jobs in a range of green-collar industries and other viable industries." This combination of statements supports Cohen's (2006) statement that "the desire for economic development is an expression of values," along with the more obvious values involved in promoting environmental protection.

An interesting aspect of the Green-Collar Youth Jobs bill is that it seems to aim for balancing the need to consume environmental resources with the need to protect and preserve the environment. This implies a recognition of the environmental damage done by human consumption in the past. However, it is not clear whether the bill supports the concept of changing consumption patterns in order to preserve natural resources during the time while green industries are being developed. This may indicate that the focus is not 100% on protecting the environment.

2. Political Framework

The Green-Collar Youth Jobs bill is currently in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions after being referred on January 15, 2009. This bill in particular is a part of the larger economic stimulus plan being pursued by the Obama administration, which has led to some significant political debates. In general, environmental issues can become politically charged since there has been the perception that support of environmental policy means lowering the priority of economic policies. In this case, though, the purpose of the bill is to balance the importance of both environmental issues and economic development. As the political ramifications of this proposal become more apparent, it will be easier to tell if conservative opposition to environmental legislation is truly based on its relationship to other issues, or if it is a result of the inherent values upon which environmental policies are based.

3. Science & Technology Framework

Along with the "Values" framework, the role of Science and Technology may be the most vital to the success of this legislation. "Green" industries rely upon creative innovation for their advancement, as have almost all industries in the United States. One of the major difficulties facing the green-collar sector right now is that there are so few existing systems for energy sustainability and efficiency. It seems that the goal of this legislation would be to involve youth in the building of these systems, also allowing for a generation of workers that would have knowledge and skills in this new industry. Eventually, there should be good opportunities for formal education in the green industries, but at first, it seems likely that most of the work and innovation will be in the form of on-the-job training.

4. Policy Design Framework

Policy design seems to be the least-defined part of this bill. The proposed legislation would not be aimed at regulating any organizations, beyond the already-existing regulation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, with performance measurement being based on the number of participants who entered employment, completed training, and increased their earnings. The main focus of this bill is to advance the environmental and energy fields closer toward sustainability, while providing job and education opportunities for youth. If these goals can be achieved, the design of the policy will have allowed significant progress to be made toward achieving a balance between environmental protection and economic development.

5. Management Framework

The proposed legislation will be carried out under the guidelines and regulations of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). WIA has been providing workforce development and training to Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth participants for over ten years. WIA requires that every local area in the United States (usually at the city/town or county level) manage and operate One-Stop Centers to provide job search assistance for job seekers. Included in the partner programs at the One-Stop Centers are: vocational rehabilitation, veteran's services, unemployment benefits advisors, educational programs such as community colleges, and youth programs.

While the issues of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency have received new attention in recent months, the structure for providing vocational training and placement services has been in place for much longer. This existing system for service delivery will greatly ease the difficulties that could become apparent during implementation.

Weekly Assignment #9

General Questions

It seems to me that the nature of having a world with independent nations leads to the resulting condition that all nations have the "right" to act in their own best interest. However, if the world's goal is to attempt reversal of environmental damage done by developed nations and to preserve some level of environmental quality for future generations, then it seems that no nation should have the "right" to abuse resources that would otherwise have been available to other nations or future inhabitants of the planet. These views are at two drastically different ends of the scale, though. When considering the current state of the world's population, economy and political environment, it seems likely that a middle course should be chosen, giving consideration to both allowing developing countries to grow and prosper, while putting in place regulations for all nations in regards to environmental sustainability.

There seems to be an important distinction between (1) the implementation of policies and regulations that aim to protect and preserve the environment in the future and (2) the efforts required to repair damage already done to the environment by now-industrialized nations. When considering the future policies aimed at environmental protection and preservation, I think that equity is a vital part of the process, since all nations will eventually be affected by the global climate. However, if it is the repair of already-existing environmental damage that is being considered, it seems only fair that the industrialized nations that both caused the damage and have the economic resources to take on the majority of the responsibility.

Because industrialized nations have set the example of exploiting the environment's resources in order to gain economic success, it is only reasonable to expect that other developing nations would want to follow that same course. This is the precise reason why equitable standards for all new development and industrialization are needed prior to any more environmental damage being done. It may not be enough to simply encourage developing nations to behave in an environmentally responsible way. Instead, industrialized nations must set the standard by accepting responsibility for past damage and supporting sustainable ways of allowing developing nations to become prosperous. Similarly, developing nations should be able to rely upon industrialized countries for beginning to remedy the existing pollution issues, since they were the root of the problem in the first place.

Final Paper Topic

For my Final Paper, I will examine the Green-Collar Youth Jobs, Education, and Training Stimulus Act (S 268 IS) which was introduced in the US Senate on January 15, 2009. This Act was introduced by Senators Murray (D-WA) and Stabenow (D-MI) as a response to the increasing general unemployment rate as well as the much higher unemployment rate among youth ages 16 - 19. In general, the goals of this Act are to increase environmental protection and awareness, while also building a well-trained workforce to sustain environmental progress achieved in the near future.

This Act will be carried out under the current operating guidelines of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which provides workforce development services to Youth, Dislocated Workers and Adult job seekers. The Green-Collar Youth Jobs, Education, and Training Stimulus Act will specifically dedicate funds to the Green Job Corps Program, Youthbuild Build Green Grants, and Green-Collar Youth Opportunity Grants. All of these programs will focus on giving youth the skills, leadership and work experience to become a productive part of the up-and-coming green industry.