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After sidestepping a question two or three times, she looks away toward a stand of scrub oak and says, “I guess I’m doing this because there’s not much that I’ve seen in the normal working world that can compare to where we’ve been or offer the same level of challenge.”

Read more: Line of fire; Veterans-turned-firefighters train in La Plata County – Durango Telegraph

Read more: Weatherization Underground: Crawlspace Retrofit – GreenBuildingPost.com

Mit Parsons knows why veterans are attracted to seek work through Veterans Green Jobs, a Denver nonprofit that trains them for jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

“Energy security and energy independence resonate with veterans, because they realize that the more we have the ability to produce our own power, the less we may have to rely on other countries for it,” said Parsons, a lieutenant colonel in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, and a co-founder and board chairman for Veterans Green Jobs.

Read more: Nonprofit connects veterans with green jobs – Denver Business Journal

Veteran Green Jobs provides training in the green industries for veterans returning from recent conflicts as well as older veterans living in Denver.

Read more: Green jobs done by vets – North Denver Tribune

by Chuck Slothower
Herald Staff Writer

Photo by NICK MANNING/Herald

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, left, receives a gift from 2-year-old Witson and Louvencia, 1, on Saturday at Udall’s office in Durango. Udall, D-Colo., and U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, helped Michael Blumhardt, pictured, and his wife, Susan Smith, bring their adopted Haitian children to the U.S. after the earthquake in Haiti.

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It wasn’t long after U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., pulled up in a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by a staffer that a herd of elk traipsed across the ridge above and a red-tailed hawk flew by.

If the visiting senator had hoped for a picturesque setting, his timing couldn’t have been better.

Udall was in Durango on Saturday to tour the Animas-La Plata project, see a federal forest-thinning project and meet with constituents. He also was scheduled to appear at a Democratic Party dinner.

The elk and hawk were on hand while Udall toured a forest-thinning project on East Animas Road (County Road 250). A U.S. Forest Service crew was joined by a group from the Veterans Green Corps to reduce fire danger next to a Forest Service bunkhouse.

“This is the work you would do when you’re trying to protect a home when a fire gets ripping,” said Mark Stiles, San Juan National Forest supervisor.

The Veterans Green Corps is made up of military veterans transitioning back to civilian life. A six-person crew sawed and hacked away at the brush Saturday. Many of the crew members had served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Denver-based program is funded in part by federal stimulus funds.

“It allows veterans to work together with veterans,” said Josh Sherrock, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from St. Louis. “You still have the camaraderie.”

Sherrock said he served in Iraq and Bosnia, and began working for the Greens Corps program last fall. The crew also has worked at Chimney Rock and Saul’s Creek.

“Let me thank you for your service to the country first, and now you’re serving in another way,” Udall told the veterans.

Earlier in the day, Udall toured the Animas-La Plata project. He said he was impressed by efforts to minimize its environmental impact, and he described the reservoir as an example of a long-ago promise that now has been kept.

“We’ve finally made good on the word we made to the Utes about their water needs,” Udall said.

He also met with a Durango couple who wanted to thank him for helping bring their adopted Haitian children into the country.

Michael Blumhardt, a critical-care doctor, and his wife, Susan Smith, an oncologist, were in the process of adopting two Haitian children when a devastating earthquake struck Jan. 12.

Blumhardt flew to Haiti to get the children, while Udall’s staff and that of Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, worked the phones to ensure their return.

“The congressman and the senator had our backs in a big way,” Blumhardt said.

Udall met the adopted children, Louvencia, 1, and Witson, 2. Blumhardt said both now are healthy. Louvencia battled pneumonia and a life-threatening bacterial infection upon her arrival in the U.S.

“They seem to be doing great,” Blumhardt said.

chuck@durangoherald.com

AS OF 2008, THERE WERE OVER ONE MILLION UNEMPLOYED MILITARY VETERANS IN THE UNITED STATES.¹ WORSE, THE DOMESTIC ECONOMIC DOWNTURN HAS MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR EMPLOYERS TO HIRE WORKERS ACROSS MANY SECTORS. BUT, THOUGH OPPORTUNITIES IN SOME INDUSTRIES HAVE EVAPORATED, OTHER OPPORTUNITIES HAVE BEEN CREATED. THE PROSPECT OF GREEN JOBS HAS PROVIDED A BEACON OF HOPE FOR VETERANS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT. THANKFULLY, A PORTION OF THE FUNDING FROM THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT WILL SEEK TO PUT VETERANS BACK TO WORK FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE STATE OF COLORADO.

A VGJ veterans repairs a heater in the San Luis Valley

As veterans served the nation in war, they will continue to serve the nation through the Weatherization Assistance Program, a part of the Recovery Act, in Colorado. The Governor’s Energy Office has teamed up with the organization Veterans Green Jobs to weatherize homes in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado. The program offers job trainings to become energy auditors and energy efficiency specialists. The training costs are largely covered by stipends and revenue from on-site work. Veterans Green Jobs will receive over $1 million from the state’s Recovery Act WAP allocations to make 240 homes in six counties more energy efficient.² The veterans will be paid good wages of $12 to $24 per hour depending on the county, and will gain expertise in energy efficiency. These skills will give veterans a strong grip on the first rungs of the promising green economy career ladder, a ladder that the Recovery Act’s investments in America is starting to build.

This initiative will not only provide jobs for the brave men and women who served our country, but it will also cut energy consumption statewide, reduce energy bills for low-income con-sumers, and avoid harmful greenhouse gas pollution. By providing employment opportunities for veterans living in Colorado, veter-ans will be on the front lines of economic and environmental re-covery in the state of Colorado.

ACTION:
In addition to Veterans Green Jobs, ten other non-profit organizations will administer the Weatherization Assistance Pro-gram in Colorado. Colorado plans to use the $80 million in Recovery Act WAP funds to weatherize 16,280 homes.³ Colorado’s por-tion under the Recovery Act represents a four-fold yearly increase from its 2008 allocation, providing the opportunity to reach more homeowners.

Along with an increase in funding, there has also been an increase in eligibility requirements, making it possible for more homeowners and renters to have their homes weatherized. Previously, household income levels could not exceed 150% of the federal poverty level in order to qualify for the program. Under the Recovery Act, families can earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level to qualify for the program. The increase raises eligible yearly income from $33,075 to $44,100 for a family of four. A family of five can qualify with an income of up to $51,580 per year, and a family of six can qualify with an income of up to $59,060.

Also, funding has increased for the improvements that can be done within a home. Now, $6,500 can be spent on each home for weatherization, up from $2,500 in previous years. With increased funding available per home, more can be done to ensure that energy waste is minimized and energy savings are maximized.

The eleven non-profit weatherization administrators across the state will focus on energy efficiency by first conduct-ing an energy audit. Workers will assess areas of energy waste in the home which may include leaky points of air infiltration and outdated appliances. Auditors will use a variety of advanced energy monitoring techniques and technologies to pinpoint areas for improvement. After the energy audit is complete and a plan of improvement is created, a weatherization crew will return to the home to perform the energy efficiency upgrade. They will seal leaky fixtures, windows, and door frames, install insulation in floors, sidewall, and attics, and tune or repair heating equipment. Often, staff from non-profit agencies will educate residents on how to make small changes in their behavior to reduce overall energy consumption. These behavioral changes may include lowering the thermostat at night and closing blinds to keep the sun’s heat out during summer days.

RESULT:
After weatherization improvements have been made, eligible Coloradans will immediately save money on their monthly utility bills. Individual homeowners will save $300-$400 on their bill per year, freeing up cash that residents can spend in their communities to support local businesses and jobs. State officials must ensure that all WAP funds are spent by April 2011. By that time, homeowners and renters in the state will have saved over $10.5 million.

The Weatherization Assistance Program will also create jobs. With the veterans hired by Veterans Green Jobs, the program will employ 742 direct weatherization workers. Direct jobs refer to the hiring of contractors and workers to carry out energy audits and energy efficiency improvements. In addition, the pro-gram will support an additional 1,379 indirect jobs through the manufacture and delivery of products used to improve energy efficiency such as insulation, win-dow sealant, blower doors, and energy efficient appliances. These are jobs that provide workers with knowledge and skills that can be transferred to a variety of applications in the green economic recovery.

The Weatherization Assistance Program will not only contribute to healthier homes, but it will also contribute to a healthier planet. In 2005, Colorado’s residential emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) totaled 3.5 metric tons per capita. This total is higher than per capita CO2 emissions in five of the seven states that share a border with Colorado.⁴ Reducing energy waste reduces greenhouse gas emissions; especially in Colorado where close to 70% of the state’s electricity comes from burning coal.⁵ The Weatherization Assistance Program will result in 67,907 fewer metric tons of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of taking over 12,000 passenger vehicles off the road over the three year period of the program.

Because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, brave veterans who served this nation will be provided good, green jobs here at home. They will work to make homes more energy efficient for the betterment of low-income residents and Colorado’s economy. With the help of agencies such as Veterans Green Jobs, the Colorado Weatherization Assistance Program will support over two thousand local jobs, make over sixteen thousand homes more energy efficient, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the state by over sixty-seven thousand metric tons, weatherizing the way to a productive, prosperous, and healthy future.

For further information, contact:
Jeff Speir
85 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 977-5535
Jeff.Speir@SierraClub.org

SIERRA CLUB NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS: 85 Second St., Second Floor • San Francisco, CA 94105 • (415) 977-5500
SIERRA CLUB LEGISLATIVE OFFICE: 408 C St. NE • Washington, DC 20002 • (202) 547-1141
www.sierraclub.org

FOOTNOTES:
1 United States Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment Situation of Veterans Summary” March 20, 2009 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/vet.nr0.htm
2 Veterans Green Jobs, “Gov. Ritter Announces Veterans Green Jobs will Provide San Luis Valley Energy Work” September 23, 2009 http://veteransgreenjobs.org/press/coverage/ritter-slv-anouncement
3 United States Government Accountability Office – Report to Congressional Committees, “Recovery Act – States’ and Localities’ Current and Planned Uses of Funds While Facing Fiscal Stresses (Colorado)” July 2009 http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/dfp/sco/contracts/ARRA/Recovery-Act_for_Colorado(07-2009).pdf
4 Energy Information Administration, “Table 2. 2005 State Emissions by Sector” October 2008 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/excel/tbl_statesector.xls
5 Energy Information Administration – State Energy Profiles, “Colorado” http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=CO