globalbriefs
News and resources to inspire concerned citizens to work together in building a healthier, stronger society that benefi ts all.
Hot ‘n Sunny Cheaper Solar Panels Spur Job Growth
Solar industry jobs are up nearly 20 percent in the 14 months through November 2013 as cheaper panels and rising electricity rates spurred people to turn to solar, according to a report by the nonprofi t Solar Foundation research group. At latest count, solar companies employ nearly 143,000 solar
workers, up more than 23,000 from September 2012—a job growth rate that’s 10 times faster than the national average and is helping local economies, according to the foundation. The industry is expected to create 22,000 new jobs in 2014, although at a slower pace than 2013. Cuts of 8,500 positions are projected in the sector that generates electricity from fossil fuels. Solar fi rms surveyed in the report said that more than 50 percent of their business and homeowner customers turned to solar to save money, while nearly 23 percent said they invested in panels because costs are now comparable with utility rates. The report noted that the cost of solar equipment has fallen about 50 percent since the beginning of 2010, motivating more people to go green.
GMO Go-Ahead Feds Give Dangerous Green Light
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a draft statement essentially giving the green light to the marketing, sale and planting of Dow Chemical’s
genetically-modifi ed (GM, GMO, GE) corn and soybeans resistant to 2,4-D, which will trigger a huge increase in the use of the toxic herbicide. The determination under the Plant Pest Act comes despite intense opposition over the past two years from farmers, more than 400,000 other individuals and some 150 farm, fi shery, public health, consumer and environmental groups and private businesses. Meanwhile, the Grocery Manufacturers Association has issued talking points against GMO labeling laws for food industry lobbyists that claim the laws are unconstitutional, violating the First Amendment, although other legal experts say the assertion is baseless.
Take action at
Tinyurl.com/PushToLabelGMO. Learn more at
OrganicConsumers.org.
April 2014 15
Pick-Me-Up
Books Mailbox Libraries Gain Worldwide
Alice Mills smiles as she looks at the box that sits on her lawn in Hutchinson,
Kansas, an act of kindness for neighbors and the community. Inside the box is a miniature library. Books sit on two shelves; the bottom with short stories for children and the top with novels for adults. After her children grew up and moved away from home, they took the books they wanted with them. The rest sat on a bookshelf collecting dust. “If they’re here, they’re not being read,” Mills says. The concept for the Little Free Library began in 2009 to promote literacy and the love of reading, as well as to build a sense of community, according to
LittleFreeLibrary.org. They are now popping up around the world in the United States, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey and the Congo. A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project survey shows that Americans strongly value the role of public libraries in their communities, both for providing access to materials and resources and for promoting literacy and improving the overall quality of life. More than half used a public library in a one-year period, and 72 percent say they live in a “library household.” Most Americans say they have only had positive experiences at public libraries and value a range of library resources and services. National Library Week begins April 13.
Contributing source:
HutchNews.com
Celebrate April 22
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