by Anne Galloway vtdigger.orgFinally, after the economic doldrums of the last few year, Vermont is seeing a few positive indicators. The state had the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4.9 percent last month, and recently ranked No. 1 with regard to the green economy.
The Green Mountain State has the highest per capita ‘green goods and services’ jobs in the country, according to a new survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 4.4 percent of Vermonters, or 12,844 people, are employed in the green sector.
Download a synopsis of the survey.
About 3.1 million Americans worked in the green economy in 2010. Major industries counted in the survey included manufacturers that recycle materials, and make hybrid cars, efficient appliances or pollution mitigation equipment. Waste management and professional jobs are also part of the mix ‘ engineers, architects, computer systems design.
Organic farmers, however, are not on the list. Add those workers to the total in Vermont and the number of green jobs grows to 16,000, according to Doug Hoffer, an independent policy analyst based in Burlington.
Hoffer says Vermont’s high ranking is the result of the state’s commitment to supporting energy efficiency and renewables, recycling and composting, and organic agriculture. We could expand the green economy even more, he says, by creating an all-fuels efficiency program that would save $500 million and creating several hundred jobs. He also suggests the state fund and implement the Farm-to-Plate initiative.
All those green jobs may be good for the environment and help the economy to an extent, but the Tax Foundation still ranks the Green Mountain state near the bottom on overall business climate because of Vermont’s progressive tax structure.
Early out for Obama event
House reps can expect a fast and furious Tuesday and Wednesday. The capital and miscellaneous tax bills are high on the agenda and by Wednesday or Thursday, they should have the the final redistricting bill out of House Government Operations. The immunization legislation will likely be out of House Health Care, and the working lands and the GMO labeling proposals will also likely make it out of committee.
Not a bad lineup after last week’s run-through of 28 out of 40 bills in the race to an April 27 adjournment (and, of course, the race to campaign season).
But there’s an added incentive this week: President Barack Obama will be in Burlington for a fundraiser on Friday, and Democrats are anxious to get out of Dodge in time for the big bash. Tickets for the event at the University of Vermont’s Athletic Complex Multipurpose Facility, which can hold up to 5,500 people, are sold out.
The Friday agenda for the House will start at 8 am and end well before the doors open at noon for Obama’s visit.
Sanders holds his own with GOP tweeters
Senator Bernie Sanders is the member of Congress with the most influence on Twitter, according to a new study by Edelman Digital discussed Monday on CNN. After Sanders, the four most influential tweeters are Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Minnesota Democratic Representative Keith Ellison, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator John McCain.
The study, which looked at 456 congressional Twitter accounts, found that Republicans received more mentions, replies and retweets, and have high numbers in its ranking of influential and popular members. Sanders was rated as the member with the most Twitter impact, however.
The study also revealed that members of Congress enjoy tweeting at one another across party lines. Almost half of them mentioned someone from the opposing party, and more than half of those tweets were ‘colllaborative.’
~ Greg Guma
March 27, 2012 vtdigger.org
Vermont ranks No. 1 in 'green job' survey, early out for Obama event, Sanders top tweeter in Congress
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