New York Green Jobs – Connecting the Dots to Van Jones and George Soros

New York State is officially broke, but my State Senator, David Valesky used taxpayer funds to print and mail a brochure to his constituents. The brochure boasts about a law he co-sponsored (with Darryl Aubertine, who, as a side note, was asked to run on the democrat ticket in NY23 but declined) which “will establish the GREEN JOBS/GREEN NEW YORK program, a job creation initiative that will create 14,000 good-paying jobs across the state and help families and businesses save on energy bills by making homes and businesses more energy efficient.” (Related blog post by Valesky can be found here.)

The State of New York will provide loans to homeowners and businesses (up to $13,000 and $26,000 respectively) to cover the costs of “retrofitting properties for maximum energy savings.” Certainly, that sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Well, it raised a few questions.

From the Green Jobs/Green New York page of the New York State Senate, you can find a link to a PDF of a report by the Center for American Progress; the organization funded by George Soros and founded by John Podesta (who headed Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential transition team). Gee, I don’t recall seeing CAP on any New York State ballot. But apparently, they’re running things in New York State, at least when it comes to green jobs. Back in May of 2009 the Center for American Progress was pushing this very initiative, and now it’s passed the State Senate. Our state senators didn’t even bother changing the title of the program. But it’s not until you get to the “recommendations” section that you get to the meat and potatoes of this Marxist program. (Emphasis theirs, added emphasis with underline is mine.)

Create a Residential Retrofit Investment Fund, or RRIF, to leverage private capital to pay for retrofits and use utility bills to recoup investments. With “on-bill recovery,” utility bills for retrofitted homes will include a line item that returns a portion of energy savings to investors until retrofit costs are repaid over a 10-year period. The remaining savings stay with the owner.

Convene a statewide Workforce Planning Panel to reorganize existing workforce development resources to support green jobs. This collaborative body will guide best-value contracting rules, establish clear pathways to training and jobs for underemployed and displaced workers, and seed the labor-management-community partnerships that form the cornerstone of the Green Jobs/Green Homes NY workforce proposal. Stakeholders will include constituency-based community groups who can integrate recruitment of trainees with other outreach on energy efficiency, community-based work readiness programs, union training programs, contractors engaged or interested in home performance work, and others.

Use a state role in enacting the RRIF to lift wages, create “pathways out of poverty,” and support union jobs. This will also ensure that all contractors who receive payment through the RRIF abide by wage standards, commit to training and hiring targets from economically marginalized communities, and leverage intensive apprenticeship participation on large-scale retrofits.

Ensure accountability from legislation through development and implementation by establishing a Stakeholder Accountability Board, which will be responsible for convening appointed representation from community groups, unions, contractors, utilities, state agencies, and others. The first task of this board must be to set equitable criteria for targeting retrofits to communities that need them and are prepared to engage deeply to leverage their benefits. Subsequent tasks include monitoring the program and problem-solving to ensure good outcomes.

Provide consumer protections to ensure that the full benefits of retrofits, including lowered housing costs, reach targeted communities. These include warranties on retrofit work, special supports for lower-income participants, and rent protections for rental units where operating costs have been reduced by retrofits.

Develop a community outreach structure to mobilize participation in the program.This will be primarily accomplished by developing regional networks of local constituency-based groups to educate and organize locally around retrofits, building partnerships with labor and business, linking community members to green jobs training infrastructure, and pre-enrolling homeowners and building owners for retrofits in target neighborhoods.

Sounds like a community organizers dream.

Back to the pamphlet sent by Senator Valesky. It states that local contractors will create jobs by performing these retrofits. But those contractors must be certified. How will they be certified and who will decide who gets certified and who doesn’t? I did a google search trying to find out how a contractor would obtain certification and came up empty.  Using the search term “get certified for retrofitting in New York” brought me to this article from the Apollo Alliance (yeah – what a surprise):

For the last two autumns, students from the University of Buffalo, Daemen College, and Nichols School stood side-by-side with union workers and community members to caulk, seal and insulate homes in Buffalo, New York. The all-volunteer energy efficiency crews are part of a project started by Frank Hotchkiss, chairman of the Western New York Apollo Alliance and New York State Apollo steering committee member.

Now Hotchkiss is gearing up for year three.

In 2006, Hotchkiss was searching for a way to improve delivery of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in New York State. The first obstacle he encountered was bureaucracy – a homeowner needs an energy audit to qualify for WAP services. At the time the project started, there was a two-year waiting period for audits.

Fortunately, Hotchkiss happened to know someone with New Buffalo Impact, a non-profit Community Action Agency that performs weatherization through WAP. When the two discussed how to help those who couldn’t access services due to energy audit backlogs, they came up with a baseline weatherization checklist and home energy conservation kit that included the necessary materials for homeowners to make basic improvements themselves. And thus, the Home Energy Conservation Kit (HECK) project was born.

Sounds innocent enough. Hotchkiss teamed up with unions to provide volunteers to do some weatherization. Nothing wrong with that. But since he’s chairman of the Western New York Apollo Alliance, we know there must be a catch. And there is.

HECK is not a full-blown weatherization program – it is a volunteer-based initiative that helps people get over the bad months and keeps people in their homes during the winter, which in turn stabilizes the neighborhood. The ultimate goal is to turn the project over to a neighborhood group that can turn it into a business.

The volunteer program accomplishes a lot with extremely limited resources for a grateful community, but retrofitting and weatherization are about to become an important part of the nationwide move to become more energy efficient.

If the stimulus bill is properly implemented, large-scale, comprehensive weatherization programs will explode. In New York State, the budget for WAP is going to increase from $20 million to approximately $500 million. New York’s share of WAP funds will be administered by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), who will then distribute the majority of funds to local community action agencies and other groups. Many community weatherization programs require a certified energy audit before granting any retrofitting funds, and as of January 1, 2010, the DHCR will require energy audits as well. So a skilled, trained workforce – which the state currently lacks – is crucial.

The Workforce Development Institute (WDI), convener of the New York State Apollo Alliance, is working to make sure that New York has a well-trained workforce that can meet the demands of the new and expanded WAP. The WDI is working with NYSERDA and community colleges to offer a 36-hour building analyst course approved by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) that teaches students to identify how structures can be made more energy efficient. Sixteen students were trained in the spring as auditors, 10 of them in the Adirondacks and six in the Buffalo area.

The expanded offering for building analyst training is still in its infancy. The WDI is working with NYSERDA on a modified agreement that will allow it to train at multiple locations throughout New York with a primary focus on the building trades. The goal is to offer it first to individuals who are unemployed, and then to others to meet the growing demand. The WDI also is partnering with the New York State Green Building Council to offer Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) training at union halls for members of the building trades, which include electricians, roofers, plumbers and more.

“It’s easy to say that the mechanism to spend the money on weatherization is not in place,” said Hotchkiss. “But the steps are defined – we just need the political will to get there.”

I’m sure they had no doubts about the “political will” of politicians in Washington and Albany. And as you can see, this is all a boon for unions, even though unions represent a small minority of skilled tradesmen. 

Still wanting to find out how a contractor can get certified I thought I’d look into the Building Performance Institute website. According to their contractor page anyone can get certified if they take the $1500 course and pass the test. But for a company to be certified, all employees must also be certified.

So just what is this Building Performance Institute all about?  They say they offer  “nationally-recognized training, certification, accreditation and quality assurance programs.” Their board of directors is comprised of some folks who are, shall we say, politically connected. The chairman, David Hepinstall spoke at the 2009 National Weatherization Training Conference. Coincidentally, so did Van Jones. (You probably remember Van Jones. He’s Obama’s former “Green Jobs Czar” who had to quit when it was exposed that he’s an America hating commie.)

Then there’s Howard Katzman from GreenChoice Consulting. He did a presentation for the 2008 ACTE Annual Convention titled How Green Is Your Curriculum. Included in the presentation on Page 3 is the headline “Study links power plants to pollution deaths, illness.” Page 14 tells us “who is stimulating this industry.” Among the who’s who of green curriculum stimulators are The New Apollo Program (an offshoot of Van Jones’s Apollo Alliance) and “A new administration in DC.” Van Jones’s name appears on Page 15 under the heading “Green for All.” There is a section on his “green collar economy” aka communism. And to show how serious they are about quality residential construction, Page 21 explains that students will learn how to build a scaled down model of a wall using super glue. (I asked my husband if he was ever trained to build a wall using balsa wood and superglue and he laughed at me. I took that as “no.”)

Also on BPI’s board are community activists, “energy” professionals, and government employees. How cozy. I’m sure if you google all their names you’ll find more radical commie connections.

In addition to the “cash for caulkers” type program co-sponsored by Senator Valesky, the State of New York is also funding the Clean Tech Center.  It’s billed as an “incubator” for renewable energy technology. They receive financing from The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. But the NYSERDA received funding from – you guessed it – Porkulus.

Their web site provides plenty of “funding” information, all under the Porkulus banner. Just a few highlights:

October 29, 2009

NYSERDA is pleased to announce $2.7 million available for Energy Codes Training and Support Service
NYSERDA has announced the availability of $2.7 million of State Energy Program funds for RFP 1621: Energy Codes Training and Support Service. For more details regarding this program please visit NYSERDA’s RFP 1621 Funding Opportunities page.

October 29, 2009

• NYSERDA is pleased to announce that up to $4 million available for Impact Evaluation for the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.
  NYSERDA has announced the availability of up to $4 million of State Energy Program and Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant funds for RFP 1656: Impact Evaluation for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. For more detail regarding this program please visit NYSERDA’s RFP 1656 Funding Opportunities page.

October 29, 2009

• Governor David A. Paterson announces the projects awarded under the first round of RFP1613: Project Implementation Funding for State Energy Program
  The complete listing of all projects awarded under the first round of RFP1613 can be found on the Projects Awarded through NYSERDA Administered ARRA Funding Opportunities Web page.

October 19, 2009

• NYSERDA is pleased to announce that $49.9 million is available for the second round of RFP 1613 and the second round has been extended to November 23, 2009
  The 2nd round due date for RFP 1613: Project Implementation Funding for the State Energy Program, has been extended to November 23, 2009. The updated funding levels are now available within the RFP 1613 Solicitation. For more details regarding RFP 1613, please visit the NYSERDA State Energy Program Web page.

It’s a massive slush fund for the state to hand out to preferred groups thanks to the federal taxpayer. But New York State is broke! They can’t meet their obligations and are fighting over budget cuts in Albany. It’s insanity. Not to mention that Porkulus funds will soon run out. So how does Senator Valesky plan to pay for his porky “cash for caulkers” program? Well, it looks like he’ll be getting some help from the EPA and the global warming alarmists.

The program is being funded from the sale of carbon credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and will not require any additional taxpayer dollars. I believe this is exactly the kind of creative thinking we need to weather the economic crisis we have been facing.

Well, that sure is creative thinking Mr. Valesky – too bad Van Jones and George Soros are doing your thinking for you. 

So, what is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative? Let’s just say it doesn’t include any coal states.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is the first mandatory, market-based effort in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states haved capped and will reduce CO₂ emissions from the power sector 10% by 2018.

States sell nearly all emission allowances through auctions and invest proceeds in consumer benefits: energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other clean energy technologies. RGGI will spur innovation in the clean energy economy and create green jobs in each state.

Who will they sell their emission allowances to? Will they create jobs in the ten states making up the group, at the expense of coal states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio? How far do these tentacles reach?

All I know is that a little pamphlet sent to me by my state senator caused me to ask a few questions which led to George Soros, Van Jones and Barack Obama. What else are these Watermelon Marxists doing that we don’t know about?  

Oh, and one more thing: Valesky received $10,000 in 2008 campaign funding from SEIU. He’s among the top 200 in the nation for the most SEIU funding in statewide races.

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Thanks to readers Liberty and Michigan for providing a couple of links for me.