26.2.09

Yes They Can

Hot on the heels of President Obama's inauguration and his promise to focus on renewable energy and green jobs, the young people of America have started to make that vision a reality.

According to the New York Times, enrollment in major and minor Environmental Science programs has skyrocketed nation-wide, sometimes rising as much as 45% over the last few years.

I don't really have an awful lot to say about this little piece of news, but I do have some questions that I'd like to pose to you, the reading public. How much do you think this trend is affected by the charismatic new president and his calls to greenify his country? I have posted other blogs mentioning that green jobs are becoming more popular in a stagnating economy because it's one of the few industries still generating jobs -- do you think the trend is pragmatic, that people are just looking for some kind of job security and are training in the appropriate field (regardless what field that might be)? Or do you think it's a question of personal accountability -- do these students really have a drive to make the world a better place?

Your comments are welcome, as always, and you can check out the full story here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sorry dear scribe, but students aren't going to be making the wrld a better place anytime soon. First of all, they're students and thus not finished learning yet. Not to mention I suspect that this hope filled call to arms is nothing more than a chicken soup for the electorate soul pet rock.

You can't green out America (or anywhere else) without sacrifice and knowledge, and since America sorely lacks both of those traits I wouldn't be holding my breath (except to keep the patchoulli stank at bay) anytime soon for Obamas (or as I like to call him, Al Gore with goes minstrel) belief that a massive improvement is possible. Nice thought, but ain't happening.

Obama sold America hope and they bought it. The problem is, is that they put it on their credit card and are now only able to pay the minimum balance.