New Mexico green jobs activist testified before Congress today

Juan Reynosa, a 27-year-old field organizer with New Mexico Youth Organized, was in Washington D.C. today testifying before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

In the days leading up to his testimony, Reynosa, a native of Hobbs, New Mexico, was a participant in the Power Shift 09 national convention, which organizers say has drawn more than 10,000 young activists to the nation’s capital.

According to press release announcing Reynosa’s testimony, the local activist gave a very personal pitch for why the country needs ramp up the clean energy economy. The release quotes him as saying:

I was born and raised in Hobbs, where my father has been working in the same oil field for the past 30 years without hardly any advancement in his job and has been forced to move to keep his job because of the decline of oil production in the area. My family, and all of America, is ready for a new energy economy, because it will create new jobs, boost our economy with new sustainable industries, and help us move from dirty, energy industries into cleaner and more sustainable, energy industries.

NMYO's Juan Reynosa

A profile on Reynosa published in the Nation magazine back in December offered a preview for the arguments he made to Congress today. That’s because NMYO’s past work has translated into proposed legislation before…

A recent NMYO and 1Sky study found that nationally, the energy efficiency and renewable sub-industry alone supported 8.5 million jobs with more than $47 billion in tax revenues in 2006. NMYO and community allies relied on the study to help craft a policy bill with the city legislators in Albuquerque that proposes to train more than 100 young people for green jobs next year. NMYO is also working with state legislators to introduce similar bills throughout New Mexico next year. That’s good news for the 1.7 million youth nationally who were not in school and were out of work in 2005.

From that same Nation article, we also learn that Reynosa has quite the motivational streak.

We are all very capable of doing great things, and those opportunities are out there waiting for us. And once you get involved, there is a snowball effect — everything gets bigger and better.

Reynosa was selected to testify on behalf of New Mexico and the Southwest, according to the release.

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Wendy Wyatt

To make matters worse most of our Federal Judges have investments in oil, and violate the law by judging cases where intentional “conflict of interest” is committed, and passed off as a slight error, as the judge “forgot” he owned stock in BP when he cast out Obama’s plan to stop drilling in the Gulf temporarily until we get some control of this catastrophic event.
By the way, I live in Florida and believe this is soon to be a waste land, so I am fleeing to the mountains, and looking for a job. I am on facebook under "oil spill emergency response think tank" if anyone would like to contact me.

Wendy Wyatt

I am grateful to people like Juan Reynosa. I am devasted by what the human race has done to this planet. I have five children that are young adults, and five grandchildren, and my heart is broken ...at the condition of the planet, with the recent Gulf of Mexico Oil Gushing still, turning what was known as a literal paradise into a dead sea, not to mention all the disperants full of toxins to poison the innocent lives of already endangered sea turtles, dolphins, whales, pelicans, hermit crabs, our coral reefs... most of it dead! In addition, they are using the same chemicals they used in Exxon Valdez oil spill. When they tried to contact the workers of the clean up for feedback, it was discovered that most of them are dead. A handful of survivors have been struggling for every breath for years, going blind, having skin disease, and blood disease, liver disease, and with no compensation for their suffering. The media has been blocked with a violation to our First Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the media from reporting the truth about this environmental hazard, which is also a violation to the Code of Federal Regulations Emergency Response, under Protection of the Environment Title 40, and our "Right to Know", because of these violations people do not know, and are playing with their babies in the toxic waters. :(

beyondgreen

There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent! We need to utilize everything in out power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil including using our own natural resources.Create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. The cost of fuel effects every facet of consumer goods from production to shipping costs. After a brief reprieve gas is inching back up.OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100. per barrel.If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trainsthe amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota.There is a really good new book out by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com

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New Mexico green jobs activist testified before Congress today

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