Working For Jobs

by Joseph Romm.

Poor Carly Fiorina. To make conservative ideologues happy, she has
to abandon science and her previous positions on the key issues of
global warming and clean energy.

But to win election statewide, she has to appeal to the majority of
California voters, who understand that clean energy is the key to the
state’s long-term economic and job growth—and that unrestricted
emissions of greenhouse gases will devastate
California more than most states.

And so in her first debate with climate and clean energy champion
Sen. Barbara Boxer, she simply couldn’t give a straightforward answer to the
simple question of whether she supported the Big Oil funded Prop 23
effort to gut California’s landmark climate and clean energy law, Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32).

Let’s go to the videotape (watch to the end):

Ouch.

You know that you have screwed up as a conservative politician when
the center-right Politico
says so:

Fiorina’s major stumble came on the issue of Proposition
23, which would suspend AB 32.  She said the focus should be on federal
climate legislation and that she had not yet taken a position on the
proposition.

“If you can’t take a stand on Prop 23, I don’t know what you will
take a stand on,” Boxer responded.

Talking to reporters after the debate, Fiorina sidestepped the issue,
  saying she would “probably” take a position on Prop 23 before
November, though it’s not her main priority. She insisted the real
referendum on energy legislation “is on the ballot—and her name is
Sen. Barbara Boxer.”

You’ll note that Fiorina immediately jumps to the old right-wing
talking point created by Frank Luntz for conservatives who want to sound
like they care about global warming and clean energy without actually
having to do anything: We need to fund energy R&D.

As for her claim that AB 32 is a job-killer, not only do 118
economists disagree, but so did Fiorina and rational Republicans just two years ago:

Related Links:

Koch brothers jump into Prop 23 fight

California bags the plastic bag ban but makes solar leap

Latest Gulf oil well explosion was no disaster, but what does it say about offshore drilling?

View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

Farnsworth Group, Inc./Colorado Springs, CO

Farnsworth Group, Inc. is a full-service engineering and architectural firm that offers our valued clients over 325 employees located in a nationwide network of offices. We are also one of the nation’s leaders in sustainable design initiatives, dedicated to solutions that blend in harmony with our natural surroundings. We are currently looking for quality and dedicated employees to join our team. Farnsworth Group is an employee-owned company with a rich 100-year history that offers an impressive benefits and compensation program in addition to excellent career development opportunities. We have the following position available:

Engineering Manager – Satellite Office Leader
Colorado Springs, CO

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced engineering manager to work with a highly successful organization. The person hired in this role will play a dual role of an Engineering Manager and Satellite Office Leader. In this role you will manage staff and resources and support multiple commissioning, retro-commissioning, energy assessment/auditing, and design projects in the Colorado Springs, CO area and across the nation for a wide variety of clients and facility types.

Engineering Management Responsibilities include:
• Staff and resource management
• Technical quality control
• Marketing and proposal development
• Establishing and maintaining budgets
• Working within our project accounting system
• Management and execution of projects from inception through completion
• Overnight travel required to support projects

Office leadership duties will include:
• Acting as satellite office leader
• Staff development and meetings
• Office budget management
• Collaborating with other discipline teams in the organization as required
• Coordinating multiple disciplines on local or national projects
• Participation in local events and attendance of periodic evening meetings
• Overnight travel to other Farnsworth Group office locations

Minimum Specific Requirements include:
• BS in Architectural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering
• 10 -15 years of progressive experience in engineering management
• Proven leadership skills with minimum of 5 years of engineering staff leadership experience
• Previous commissioning experience as defined by ASHRAE Guideline 0
• Previous LEED® and/or sustainable design project experience
• Previous MEP design experience
• Registered PE in the State of CO or able to obtain CO licensure
• Experience with Federal projects considered a plus

We offer an excellent salary and benefits program that includes:
• Medical/Dental Plans
• Prescription Drug Program
• Vision Plan
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Flexible Spending Account
• Time-off Benefits
• Company ownership potential

For immediate consideration please:

Apply Online by clicking below or visiting our website at http://www.f-w.com and clicking on the careers link.

Farnsworth Group, Inc. is proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V.


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by Ashley Braun.

Oxygen bars are so Japan circa 1997. Huffing canisters of “Fresh Air” is where it’s at.

At only two Hong Kong dollars a pop (that’s one shiny U.S. quarter), Hong Kongers can finally huff and puff and blow their birthday candles out … just “like the rest of the world does.” With a deal like that, why would you breathe anything else?

Unfortunately for the seven million residents respiring in Hong Kong, they have to breathe some of the dirtiest air in the world. Which is exactly why the Clean Air Network produced this video as a cheeky warning of how their future may look—and smell (flavored like vanilla! and beach! and … horses?).

Personally, I’m not holding my breath over the prospect of mastering “exciting new skills, like balloon animals and yodeling.” Balloon animals are tricky!

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Related Links:

It (almost) can’t get more local than growing at the grocery store

Feds lease prime solar land, but nary a panel is in sight

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View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

by Agence France-Presse.

OTTAWA—A fuel tanker has run aground in Canada’s far
north, carrying 2.4 million gallons of diesel fuel that risk spilling into the
Arctic waters, the Canadian Coast Guard said Thursday.

A Coast Guard
spokesman told AFP no leaks from the tanker had yet been detected in the
pristine waters.

The ship struck
a sandbar in the famed Northwest Passage, southwest of the town of Gjoa Haven
in Canada’s Nunavut territory, on Wednesday. It was carrying fuel to resupply
remote communities in the region.

Authorities and
the ship’s owner, Woodward’s Oil, will attempt to float it off the sandbar, the
official said.

Last week, a
cruise ship struck an uncharted rock in the same waterway, forcing the
evacuation of more than 110 passengers and crew. That crash occurred late
Friday as the ship Clipper Adventurer set out from Kugluktuk, Nunavut, for a
12-day voyage through the passage.

None of the
tourists onboard were injured, said a spokesman for tour operator Adventure
Canada. But it took two days for the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen
to arrive at the scene, prompting calls for Canada to beef up its search and
rescue capabilities in the far north.

With the
acceleration of Arctic ice melt, interest in the region has soared. Shrinking
ice has opened up sea navigation, and could give oil rigs improved access to
the sea floor.

Canada’s claim
to the Northwest Passage, however, is disputed by the United States.

Related Links:

Oil slick spreading after rig explosion forced 13 workers into the Gulf

Feds lease prime solar land, but nary a panel is in sight

Oil-platform explosion in the Gulf. Yes, another one.

View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

by Agence France-Presse.

OTTAWA—A fuel tanker has run aground in Canada’s far
north, carrying 2.4 million gallons of diesel fuel that risk spilling into the
Arctic waters, the Canadian Coast Guard said Thursday.

A Coast Guard
spokesman told AFP no leaks from the tanker had yet been detected in the
pristine waters.

The ship struck
a sandbar in the famed Northwest Passage, southwest of the town of Gjoa Haven
in Canada’s Nunavut territory, on Wednesday. It was carrying fuel to resupply
remote communities in the region.

Authorities and
the ship’s owner, Woodward’s Oil, will attempt to float it off the sandbar, the
official said.

Last week, a
cruise ship struck an uncharted rock in the same waterway, forcing the
evacuation of more than 110 passengers and crew. That crash occurred late
Friday as the ship Clipper Adventurer set out from Kugluktuk, Nunavut, for a
12-day voyage through the passage.

None of the
tourists onboard were injured, said a spokesman for tour operator Adventure
Canada. But it took two days for the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen
to arrive at the scene, prompting calls for Canada to beef up its search and
rescue capabilities in the far north.

With the
acceleration of Arctic ice melt, interest in the region has soared. Shrinking
ice has opened up sea navigation, and could give oil rigs improved access to
the sea floor.

Canada’s claim
to the Northwest Passage, however, is disputed by the United States.

Related Links:

Oil slick spreading after rig explosion forced 13 workers into the Gulf

Feds lease prime solar land, but nary a panel is in sight

Oil-platform explosion in the Gulf. Yes, another one.

View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

by Ashley Braun.

Are farmers markets not fresh enough for you? Is the urban farm down the street too full of dirt? Do you love the experience of walking up and down aisles of artificially lit food which the grocery store can offer but cringe at the miles and minutes it took for your dinner to reach you?

Then Agropolis may be for you! 

It’s the soil-free, pesticide-free, and travel-free concept grocery store, urban farm, and restaurant, all rolled into one. Peruse the produce growing up the walls and pick what you like, while you have visions of tilapia dinners dancing in your head—and swimming in the aquaponic floor tanks under your feet. The high-tech team behind Agropolis envisions “a world where your food is not transported a single mile to get to you.” The only food-miles will be between the store and your dinner plate.

The concept sounds a step or two down the line from Gene Fredericks’ start-up, Big Green Boxes, which also aims to aqua-, hydro-, aeroponically grow food but in abandoned K-Marts. And just like when the spaces were K-Marts, you’ll still get what you want “Right Here. Right Now.”

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Related Links:

Buy a breath of ‘Fresh Air’ in Hong Kong

How will you keep walruses from learning to fly?

Colorado town won’t play nice with bicyclists—but its casino will

View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

Union of Concerned Scientists/Cambridge, MA

Development Officer
Union of Concerned Scientists
Cambridge, MA Office
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices. What began as a collaboration between students and faculty members at MIT in 1969 is now an alliance of more than 300,000 citizens and scientists that includes people from all walks of life: parents and businesspeople, biologists and physicists, teachers and students.

UCS strives for a future that is free from the threats of global warming and nuclear war and a planet that supports a rich diversity of life. Our specific focus areas include global warming, renewable energy, advanced vehicle technology, nuclear power safety, nuclear weapons and related security issues, preserving the integrity of science, and sustainable agriculture.

THE POSITION:
Under the supervision of the Director of Major Gifts, the Development Officer (for Leadership Giving) is charged with broadening and deepening mid-level giving support ($1,000-$9,999) to UCS, including primary responsibility for the cultivation and solicitation of UCS’s Henry Kendall Society (HKS). Working in conjunction with the Membership Director in his efforts to sustain and grow the HKS, the Development Officer has an active role in developing and implementing strategies to upgrade and renew current and prospective HKS members through direct mail, web, and personal cultivation and solicitation. The Development Officer develops, implements, and monitors the progress of individual prospects plans for his/her portfolio of donors, creating a pipeline to major gifts, and serves as a member of the leadership gifts team.

GENERAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Responsible for a portfolio of leadership gift prospects and donors, including determining ask amounts, personalizing solicitations, responding to donor queries, and thanking and updating donors as appropriate. Identify pool of past and lapsed Henry Kendall Society donors as well as Henry Kendall Society prospects to call/meet with and solicit their leadership support. Responsible for meeting or exceeding annual dollar goals from this group of donors.

Work with the development team to identify and qualify potential major gift prospects, feed into major gifts team.

Oversees gift acknowledgment process for VIP donors, including writing and personalizing special acknowledgments; coordinates and follows all gift processing and accounting procedures in partnership with gift entry staff.

Coordinates input and management of prospect information and records with other development staff. Responsible for the input of information into Raiser’s Edge to assure that pertinent donor and prospect information is added to the database in an accurate and timely manner.

Manage portfolio of family foundations, meeting all deadlines for proposals and reports.

BASIC KNOWLEDGE:
Position requires development experience, including annual fund or leadership gifts cultivation, solicitation and/or stewardship experience, as well as knowledge of data processing and data management systems. Ability to manage complex projects and multiple tasks with thorough attention to detail and follow through; plan, organize and communicate effectively; work across department functions; and excellent oral and written communication skills. Familiarity with and interest in UCS issues strongly preferred.

EXPERIENCE:
Position requires Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, and three to five years in development, preferably related to annual giving, major gifts or membership. Demonstrated success managing and prioritizing tasks associated with individual gifts work including project management, writing successful and compelling solicitation letters and/or proposals, experience using donor tracking systems, and cultivation activities. Must demonstrate superior interpersonal skills and ability to manage relationships and multiple tasks with ease and be energetic, intellectually curious and a good listener. Ability to work in a team environment. Strong computer skills, including facility with Microsoft Office suite and constituent databases necessary (experience with Raiser’s Edge a plus). Familiarity with on-line research, list segmentation, and/or data analysis. Ability to travel occasionally.

TO APPLY:
Please submit a cover letter and resume via email to jobs@ucsusa.org and include “Development Officer†in the subject line. Email materials by Word Documents only. No calls. Deadline: September 17th or until filled

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by Agence France-Presse.

NEW ORLEANS—An explosion
ripped through an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday forcing 13 people
into the water, one of whom was injured, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

There was no
immediate sign of an oil spill and everything “appears to be” contained “at this time,” Patrick Cassidy, a
spokesman for Texas-based rig owner Mariner Energy, told CNN. 

“In an
initial flyover by company personnel over the site, there was no hydrocarbon
spill that was reported,” Cassidy said.

[UPDATE: AP
is reporting a “mile-long oil sheen” spreading from the Mariner
rig.]

However the rig was
still ablaze and the blast raised fresh pollution fears as the region struggles
to recover from the largest ever maritime oil spill, caused by a similar
explosion 20 miles to the east.

An estimated 4.9
million barrels of oil gushed out of a deepwater well ruptured after the
BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20 some 52 miles off
the coast of Louisiana.

The explosion
killed 11 workers and it took nearly three months to stem the flow of oil
gushing out of the well some 5,000 feet below the surface.

The Mariner rig
was operating in relatively shallow water, about 340 feet, and was not drilling at the time of the
explosion, Cassidy said.

There were seven
wells producing approximately 1,400 barrels of oil in total in about 12 million
cubic feet of gas in total, he said, adding that “the fire appears to have
been quite a bit a ways from where the wells are.”

Thursday’s
incident drew immediate condemnation from environmental groups frustrated with
lax oversight of the offshore oil and gas industry.

“How many
times are we going to gamble with lives, economies, and ecosystems?” John
Hocevar, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director, told AFP. “It’s time
we learn from our mistakes and go beyond oil.”

Helicopters
rushed to the scene of the latest blast, some 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay in Louisiana, to fish
out workers who apparently jumped into the sea to save themselves.

“All 13 are
accounted for and they are all wearing some sort of an immersion suit that
protects them from the water,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer John
Edwards told MSNBC.

Nine helicopters
had been dispatched to the site, Edwards said, adding the extent of any
injuries suffered by the workers was not immediately clear.

“Right now
we’re focused on search and rescue and then, ultimately, as this thing
progresses we’re going to be looking into the cause,” Edwards added. Four Coast Guard
cutters were also en route to the rig.

“We will
continue to gather information as we respond, we obviously have response assets
ready for deployment, should we receive reports of pollution in the
water,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

Gibbs declined
to say whether the president believed inspections of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico
were moving fast enough in the wake of the BP disaster.

“Obviously
we’ve had taken some, we took a series of steps after the BP incident,”
Gibbs said. “If this
situation warrants, we’ll certainly update that.”

The Coast Guard
said in a statement that it received a report from a nearby helicopter pilot at
about 10:00 am EST “stating that 13 people were in the water near
an oil platform on fire.”

“The 13
people in the water were picked up by the OSV Crystal Clear and taken to
another platform,” the Coast Guard said.

“Coast
Guard helicopters are being utilized to transport the rescued to Terrebonne
General Hospital.”

Mariner did not
immediately return requests for comments.

Related Links:

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Oil-platform explosion in the Gulf. Yes, another one.

Discovery hostage taker was a population-obsessed eco-wacko

View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

by Ashley Braun.

That’s what I consider the core message to be of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s cute animated video about climate change’s effects on sea creatures.

Deviating from the nature mockumentary style, this one instead takes the high tech approach to global warming by going the CGI walrus route. This pretty clearly emphasizes the difference between humans mitigating climate change (e.g., driving less) and marine life adapting to climate change (cue flying walruses).

It’s probably also worth noting that John Cleese narrates it and, according to the Aquarium, “to date has refused 3,982 plastic water bottles.” I assume he uses the Holy Grail instead.

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Related Links:

Colorado town won’t play nice with bicyclists—but its casino will

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When streets tell the truth about people riding in cars (and on bikes)

View full post on Grist – the latest from Grist

Southern California Edison/Rosemead, CA

Basic Qualifications:
Must have experience in the power systems operation planning and energy markets.

Core Competencies:
- Bachelor's Degree in power systems engineering, quantitative economics or mathematics.
- Typically ten or more years of experience in power-systems transmission and generation operation and expansion planning using complex optimization models.
- Typically possesses seven or more years experience in: processes and tools, operations research, statistics, decision making techniques and tools, and building complex engineering and economic models.
- Typically possesses five or more years of supervisory or project management experience.
- Demonstrated experience in mid-term/short-term market simulation models based on classic and security constrained unit commitment and economic dispatch.
- Demonstrated experience with power flow and contingency analysis in high voltage transmission networks.
- Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with the market operation and transmission planning functions of the CAISO or similar markets and high voltage transmission grids and generation systems.
- Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Excel applications and Access databases.
- Demonstrated experience leading complex projects with minimum supervision, working in a team setting and coordinating work across functions and departments in developing information and solutions.
- Demonstrated experience in operation and expansion planning of generation and transmission assets in the deregulated
wholesale power markets.
- Demonstrated experience with high-level programming, scripting languages, and relational databases.
- Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare regulatory and compliance reports and present complex technical information in non-technical language.
- Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Word, Project, PowerPoint and Visio.
- Must demonstrate the ability to integrate work across relevant areas, develop the business and services to enhance customer satisfaction and productivity, manage risks and safety appropriately, develop and execute business plans, manage information, and provide exceptional service to internal and external customers.
- Must demonstrate effective resource and project planning, decision making, results delivery, team building, and the ability to stay current with relevant technology and innovation.
- Must demonstrate strong ethics, influence and negotiation, leadership, interpersonal skills, and the ability to effectively manage stress and engage in continuous learning.

COMMENTS: Additional testing may be required as part of the selection process for this position. This position has been identified as a NERC/CIP impacted position – Prior to being hired, the successful candidate must pass a Personnel Risk Assessment (PRA) or Background Investigation. Once hired, the candidate must complete specified training prior to gaining un-escorted access to assigned work location and performing necessary job duties. Candidates for this position must be legally authorized to work directly as employees for any employer in the United States without visa sponsorship.

Preferences:
Master's or PhD in Power Systems Engineering.

Typical Responsibilities:
This position will be a Project Manager in the Energy Supply and Management (ES&M)/Transmission Planning Group, located within the Power Procurement Business Unit (PPBU) at Southern California Edison (SCE). The successful candidate will maintain and implement market simulation models that are able to reasonably simulate outcomes of the Market Redesign & Technology Upgrade (MRTU) of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) within current and future MRTU feature development. Typical Responsibilities: Managing the maintenance and implementation of multiple complex models, such as CAISO full network models (FNM), mid-term/short-term market simulation models and optimal-power flows models; identifying and managing an appropriate modeling of Convergence Bidding in mid-term/short-term market simulation models; analyzing complex market conditions and rules and ensuring they are properly modeled in mid-term/short-term simulation models; managing and directing cross-functional development teams to address MRTU current and future analytical issues; creating and maintaining a range of reports, such as the daily market simulation and After the Fact analysis; making decisions regarding analytical techniques and variables used; supervising decision making with regard to mid-term/short-term market simulation and transmission system analysis and reporting; and performing other responsibilities and duties as assigned.

Edison International and Southern California Edison reserve the right to close or cancel a posting at any time.

To view job at edisonjobs.com please select the "Southern California Edison" or "Edison International" logo.

If you are interested in this position, please submit your resume in confidence by visiting www.edisonjobs.com.

Edison International is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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