LESSON: Preparing Yourself & Your Children To Live Securely As Economies Change, So Should Your Family Discussions, Preparations & Skills

THE FACTS: Here in Massachusetts for instance, African Americans make up seven percent of the population but only own 2.3 percent of the businesses; additionally, the average income for these Black owned firms is $162K compared to $448K for other ownerships; add to that; the average family net income for a Black household is a meager $6,100 compared to $67,000 white.

"Green Collar Jobs" mean everything from building new environmentally safe construction, equipment, engines and automobiles including retrofitting old buildings as upgrades are needed to researching and developing new fuels and energy sources for clean air, water, soil remediation and including new ways to design green and recycle green. It's almost really a matter of seeing a pollution, waste or environmental problem and developing the expertise to solve it.

When he was Senator Barack Obama stated he would work to spend $210 billion in the construction and environmental industries over 10 years as part of two programs. The larger is $150 billion to create 5 million "green collar" jobs to develop more environmentally friendly energy sources; and then sixty billion for a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to rebuild highways, bridges, airports and other public projects with an additional 2 million jobs.

--Source Associated Press 2/13/2008