Ubuntu Green, a Sacramento community-based organization, will host the 2nd Annual Green Oak Park! to highlight green and healthy lifestyles in the Sacramento area. The event will be held on Friday, September 10 at the Oak Park United Methodist Church, and will coincide with the National Day of Service. Among this year’s special guests are Mayor Kevin Johnson, U.S. Representative Doris Matsui and Councilmember Lauren Hammond, who will give brief welcoming remarks. The day begins with a Green Job and Education Fair from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Among the exhibitors are: UC Davis Health System, Sacramento Builders Exchange, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento City College and Green Tech Education

In March, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched California Green Corps, in order to place at-risk young adults aged 16-24 into jobs in California’s emerging green economy. The Center for Land-Based Learning is one of the three youth service providers in the greater Sacramento region, serving a total of 130 youth. CLBL is serving 25 of those 130 youth, aged 16-19 years old, for summer work experience in sustainable agriculture, natural resource conservation, and habitat restoration. The Center for Land-Based Learning is well known for their two model high school programs, the FARMS Leadership and SLEWS Programs, that reach out to inner-city students and introduce them to a new worl

The broad ideas for Mayor Kevin Johnson’s burgeoning environmental initiative were presented by city staffers at Thursday’s City Council meeting. Johnson said the “green initiative” will have the following elements: the intersection of the environment and the regional economy, green jobs, environmental policies and education. “The whole purpose of this initiative is really to convene, coordinate, align and leverage leaders across the region,” the mayor said. “You’ll hear a lot of talk about the environment, the economy and education.” Yvette Rincon, the city’s sustainability program manager, said Johnson’s “green initiative” will include policies on energy; waste and recycling; water an

Sacramento led the state in green job growth in 2008, with an increase in green jobs of 87% between 1995 and 2008, reports Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California’s Green Jobs. This report was released by nonpartisan Next 10 and Collaborative Economics, and provides the most comprehensive green jobs accounting to date, systematically tracking the most recent available data on green companies, job type, location and growth across every sector and region of California. There are other positive indicators in the Sacramento region that we are on our way to becoming the clean tech capital of the state. In its annual CleanStart Progress report, SARTA identified over $130

This Tuesday, clean tech players from around the region will gather to discuss the latest industry buzz at CleanStart’s PowerSurge networking mixer at McClellan Park. The event includes a tour of Technikon’s Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) as well as several other clean tech businesses located in McClellan Park. Featured speakers include Robert Weisenmiller,  who was recently appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger as one of the five commissioners for the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Kristine Mazzei, partner at Valley Vision, a nonprofit association working to secure the social, environmental and economic health of the Sacramento Region. "The Sacramento Region's clean techn

Mayor Kevin Johnson said last week he is considering the possibility of starting a “green initiative” in 2010. While Johnson’s environmental initiative is still in a brainstorming stage, he mentioned that it is one of his priorities for the coming year.  He indicated that “green jobs” might be part of the possible environmental initiative. “We’ve got to find ways to diversify, and I think that’s where the green initiative can also play a role,” he said. Photo by Anthony Bento Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

The green movement is in full swing these days. President Obama and his Administration are talking green jobs every day. The environmental movement is enjoying its day in the sun as the nation embraces green principles. Businesses such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks have implemented some sort of green practices. And, we even have Planet Green, the television station dedicated to teaching America how to live and build green.   Earlier this year, I launched Ubuntu Green www.ubuntugreen.org, a non-profit focused on building sustainable and equitable communities. I was particularly concerned with the impact of the green movement on urban centers, low income families and communities of color. It be

SACRAMENTO, Cal. - FEBRUARY 9, 2009 - A local group of bicycle advocates launch the 1st Annual Bikeramento Week from Feb. 9-14, culminating on Valentine’s Day with a race day watch party at 18th and L on the patio of the Buckhorn Grill during the Amgen Tour of California, the largest bicycle race in the United States. Each day this week, the team offers a different bicycle-friendly event to highlight Sacramento’s potential as a bikeable community to both visitors and locals alike. By attending events, participants can win a pair of tickets to the Bikeramento Patio during the Amgen prologue on Saturday. The group wishes to raise awareness of bicycles as a transportation norm. “This is a g