Why WOULDN’T anyone want to go work in Hawaii for a few years? Here’s a great piece from Fast Company, “Hawaii Just Passed a Law to Make the State Carbon-Neutral by 2045.”
This creates good jobs and business opportunities in at least four major transformations:
1) Hawaii will finish its shift to cheaper, more disaster-resiliant 100% renewable electricity. This opens up opportunities in the wind, solar and geothermal industries.
2) More cars, delivery vehicles and buses will be electric, since all island trips are within easy charging range. This opens up opportunities for the car charger companies, and for those auto and delivery vehicle companies with the vision to go EV.
3) Using a market-concept called “carbon offsets,” they will increase forests on the islands to nullify the pollution from air travel and ocean shipping, which have no easy way to green up. This opens up opportunities for folks to join this project, and for the nursery industry.
4) Hawaii is doubling its local agriculture sector, since 90% of food is imported and requires fossil fuel to bring in. This creates opportunities for farmers and businesses which sell equipment and other products to farmers.
There are even opportunities for civil engineers, as the State will now require all new construction to take into account sea level rise. And of course, as with green companies everywhere, opportunities for back office jobs like accounting, purchasing, legal, HR, facilities and so on… not to mention workers and investers in the energy-efficiency retrofits industry.
A side benefit: The State’s transformation also lowers family-cost-of-living in Hawaii, as renewable electricity and the juice to run electric cars both cost less than what residents pay for imported fuel.
The awesome state of Hawaii is doing its part to fight the emerging climate crisis, and that opens up the possibility of good paying jobs and business opportunities: As the saying goes, “To Save the Planet, Invest Your Working Life.”
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Not sure how to start saving the planet (civilization, really)? Start by always remembering Al Gore’s famous saying: “Hope is a renewable resource.”
Then, our practical answer becomes “Deeply know the personal Superpowers” we all bring to the game of life:
1) To save the planet, CHANGE OURSELVES FIRST;
2) To save the planet, INVEST OUR WORKING LIVES;
3) To save the planet, USE OUR VOICES and take advocacy seriously! Never miss a vote and never, ever stop influencing your government and all businesses locally, at the state level, and at the national level. As well, set a solid example for all around you to see. Jawbone to others about what we need to do, and influence them as peers. Finally, have an annual cash donations program. All of these are ways we can use our voices.
Stay focussed: Lead the way with substantive global warming solutions. (Far from being a bummer, this is actually a fun trend for each of us to be part of… get energized!) Our kids and their kids will be proud of us.
And in all cases and at all times, cast aside the learned-helplessness that infects so much of modern life… the time is now for climate change solutions. Never give up.
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Global Warming, You and I 