What’s Good for the Gorillas

On Corporate Self-Regulation versus Government Regulation

By Ryan LaPlante, Special to Green Collar Association

The last 700 Mountain Gorillas reside in a series of parks in the Virunga volcano range, overlapping the borders of three countries in Central Africa. In the politically unstable Democratic Republic of Congo, they are hunted by poachers who sell their body parts to collectors; infants are sold alive to zoos and researchers. In neighbouring Rwanda, things aren’t so grim; gorillas form the lynchpin of a lucrative tourist industry, and poachers there face harsh penalties.

Notice that the Congolese poachers and the Rwandans are both following the business model that makes sense in their respective contexts. In Rwanda, the government steps in to ensure that gorillas are managed responsibly as a common resource, making it profitable to preserve them. In the DRC, there is no government oversight; if one poacher doesn’t kill a gorilla, another poacher will (and take home the profits). The plight of the mountain gorilla serves as a useful analogy to a debate that is taking place in environmental economics today.

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Sustainability With Acknowledgment of the Past

By Victor Douglas Ngo, Green Collar Association Staff Writer

The waste we generate today is a pervasive and inconvenient fact found in the human and natural landscape. As we move towards a more sustainable and integrated economy, we need to consider the effects of achieving sustainability through manufacturing new, more efficient cities, buildings, and electronics. Vast amounts of energy is consumed and waste produced through the production of the new and the destruction of the old. A shift towards the preservation, retrofit, and reuse of the old will offer new insights in minimizing our impact on the environment.

Acknowledgement must be given to architect Carl Elefante for coining the phrase: “The greenest building is…one that is already built.” It provides a guiding principle that the green economy can readily adopt under various contexts. Elefante advocates for the preservation of existing buildings; simply building our way to sustainability does not present itself with a feasible and economically sound solution. While LEED and the Living Building Challenge hold its place in green building technology, it fails to address the performance of the vast existing housing stock built since the 1920s. The fact is they account for a great majority of building carbon emissions. Improving efficiency can be accomplished through

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Featured Member News

Members are invited to submit news releases to greencollar.org. In addition to posting these to our site, we add them to our newsletter. Please enjoy the following news releases from some of our members. To submit your news, please e-mail us: gcnews@greencollar.org

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Forty years ago, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson had an idea. He wanted to prove to leaders in Washington, D.C., that the citizens of the United States would support an environmental movement. And so, Earth Day was born. Nelson was certain an impressive peaceful demonstration of concern would ensue, but he never fathomed the overwhelming response of the more than 20 million Americans who participated in the first Earth Day — one of the most significant grassroots efforts this country has seen to date.

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Solar Energy International

In 2010, Solar Energy International enjoyed a banner year providing hands-on workshops and online courses in renewable energy training, surpassing the 16,000 alumni mark. We look forward to furthering our mission and serving more participants in 2011. The new year offers an opportunity to celebrate Solar Energy International's 20th anniversary and continue to provide comprehensive training in renewable energy technologies. To kick off the new year, SEI offers these online solar training courses, starting Jan. 10, 2011. Many of these online courses are almost full so register soon!

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Becoming Green

An effective green training program teaches how to perform green evaluations, green building design principles and techniques, green interior design, and selection of green products. Consumers are more conscious than ever of the environmental factors affecting their lives, homes, businesses and lifestyles. They are asking for designers, architects, and builders to incorporate sustainability into their projects. Governments are encouraging green practitioners to spread knowledge and awareness about the benefits of green living and offer tax rebates for green adaptations. For example, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides funding for green training programs.

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New York Institute of Technology

An interdisciplinary team of 11 students from New York Institute of Technology’s (NYIT) architecture, engineering, and various other academic programs walked away with the $3,000 grand prize and the honor of creating a permanent addition to the distinguished aircraft carrier, which was originally launched in 1943. “Our team is extremely happy that the design is to become a piece of history on the U.S.S. Intrepid,” said Luke Ferland, senior education major and spokesperson for Alphabet Soup, the winning team. “Each member not only brought a different academic discipline to the process but also a unique voice and life experience that enabled us to strike a balance among architecture, engineering, and sustainability.”

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Green Workforce Preparedness Initiative

Putting the Green Collar JOBS into the Green Economy

The opportunity is clear: millions of new jobs and global leadership in the worldwide green economy.

The motivation is strong: avoid irreparable damage to the environment and global economy while enhancing national security and prosperity.

The inevitability is clear: India, China, and Europe, as evidenced by their economic policies and multi-billion dollar investments, are committed to leading the charge.

Achieving a green economy is not a question of "if" or even "when", but rather one of "how." The first mover will lead the energy infrastructure of the future. Transforming an economy requires not only new technologies and a vision of tomorrow, but also a green collar workforce – uniting blue and white collar, equipped with a new set of skills and tools to make them successful and grow the economy at large.

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About Green Collar Association

Green Collar's mission is to advance the socially responsible economy and promote green collar jobs by aligning the interests of companies, educational institutions, and members of the workforce - including professionals and skilled workers.

We believe that an issue of such critical importance to our economic growth, national security, and environmental health will require a collaborative approach that engages the best and brightest ideas, people, and resources from each sector.

Thus, Green Collar Association is focused on:

Building Bridges: Helping companies, educational institutions and groups representing the workforce better understand each other's needs and challenges to reduce costly missteps and errors
Cross Pollination: Establishing a clearinghouse for exchanging best practices, tools, and ideas within and among all three groups
Creating a Fair Playing Ground: Providing public policy support and guidance on the Federal levels on issues affecting the green economy and particularly stimulating green collar jobs that will allow our members to compete with those in other countries
Developing Next Generation Leadership: Offering the most comprehensive listing of educational and job opportunities in the socially responsible economy
Stimulating Profitability: Helping companies and educational institutions to benefit financially from a green, socially responsible economy through access to new customers and new ideas

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We want to hear from you! Let us know if there's a particular story, theme, or idea you'd like us to explore. Do you have article suggestions we should know about? We publish selected letters from our members and occasionally we have open calls for written submissions. If you send us an email request we'll be glad to publish your news releases. Please email us: gcnews@greencollar.org.