The solution to the financial crisis? Green job creation and infrastructure

What do we do when the economy is plummeting and unemployment rate begins to climb? You do what we Americans do best. ... invent. Invent new ways of thinking about economics, technology, and the way we live.

I don't think it's a secret anymore that the sustainable revolution in America has begun. The best thing we can do for our national security, our economy, our health, and our planet is to embrace it in every aspect of our lives. Creating a green infrastructure and, therefore, green jobs is the best way to recover from these uncertain times.

As a followup to my last political entry, here are some of the plans to green our jobs and infrastructure:

Obama's plans for creating green jobs:

• Invest In A Clean Energy Economy And Create 5 Million New Green Jobs: Obama and Biden will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale renewable energy, invest in low emissions coal plants, and begin transition to a new digital electricity grid. The plan will also invest in America's highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world.
• Create New Job Training Programs for Clean Technologies: The Obama-Biden plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama and Biden will also create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
• Boost the Renewable Energy Sector and Create New Jobs: The Obama-Biden plan will create new federal policies, and expand existing ones, that have been proven to create new American jobs. Obama and Biden will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own. Obama and Biden will also extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs.

Erik Sofge of Popular Mechanics spent a year analyzing this country's aging and failing infrastructure. In his article, Green Tech Plans Hide Obama-McCain Disparity on Infrastructure, he analyzes the plans (and sometimes the lack of a plan) of Obama and McCain to use green technologies to repair the electrical grid; and bridges and roadways; and the dams and levees. As he notes in the article, they have yet to debate he issue. Hopefully, for the sake of places like New Orleans and Galveston, they will soon.

"So while the Obama campaign has devoted more policy papers and overall campaign energy to the issue of infrastructure, the real debate over the future of America—not the people, or the politics, but the physical nation itself—has barely started."