Month: April 2016

NJ Clean Energy Appliance Rebate Program Now Online

For more than a dozen years New Jersey consumers have been taking advantage of rebates available to them under the New Jersey Clean Energy Program. What better way to acknowledge Earth Day 2016 than to participate in a rebate program for being a conscientious, energy minded consumer?

Since March 1 consumers have had the ability to make application for the appliance rebate online. The application process is reported to be simple, allowing customers to track the progress of their application and receive their rebates sooner.

The appliance rebate program applies to ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washers , clothes dryers and refrigerators. Rebates vary from $50 to $75 for refrigerators and washers and $100 to $300 for select energy efficient dryers.

The online application simplifies the process for both the customer and for the program administrator. The customer can verify that the appliance meets the qualifications for the rebate prior to submitting it and no longer needs to mail in the application.

The online application reduces the turnaround time for customers to receive their rebate.

New Jersey Clean Energy Program , administered by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, offers financial incentives, programs and services to New Jersey residents, business owners and local governments to help them save energy, money and the environment. It promotes increased energy efficiency and the use of clean, renewable sources of energy. For more information call 866-NJ-SMART (866-657-6278).

On a related note, here are a few links with energy savings tips and ideas.

  • ENERGY STAR – a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voluntary program that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect our climate through superior energy efficiency. You can view their website to identify energy efficient products.
  • New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program energy tips.
  • Energy Saver Guide published by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Support Earth Day 2016 .

America’s New Working Class Demands Respect

The following excerpt was written by and first appeared last week on BillMoyers.com under the title, America’s New Working Class Demands Respect.

Tamara Draut’s new book, Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America, is officially out today. In it, she examines the struggles and challenges faced by today’s workforce and how that force is shifting the country’s political landscape, striving toward a renewal of the power that once defined our industrial working class. Below, through personal experience, interviews and research, Draut tells us why American workers demand and deserve the restoration of respect and fair treatment.

 

Nine out of 10 fast-food workers say they have experienced some type of wage theft, when employers illegally withhold wages by not paying overtime, forcing workers to work off the clock or not giving workers a full paycheck. In 2012 alone, $993 million was recovered in stolen wages thanks to the combined efforts of government officials and private lawyers. That’s nearly three times the amount of money stolen during robberies in the same year.

I’ve been talking to members of the new working class as part of the research for my new book, Sleeping Giant. The people I’ve spoken with take pride in contributing to the success of the company they work for and the happiness of their customers. They also expressed a common desire for more respect. As a general laborer for Coca-Cola put it, “We’re making them billions of dollars. Why are we being treated like something you step on in the grass?”

The disrespect that the working class has faced on the job for decades is now trickling up to the professional middle class. For example, roughly half of all college faculty members are only employed part-time. While it used to be that college faulty members consistently earned a middle-class salary, today’s adjunct professors often end up living near or below the federal poverty line.

Today’s professional class face a near-constant expectation to be “on-call” 24 hours a day, ignoring the needs of their families so they can respond to emails at all hours. Tech workers’ jobs are increasingly at risk of off-shoring. After his second lay-off, Rick, a 45-year-old computer engineer, was forced to train his foreign replacement as a condition for receiving his severance pay.

Unless the new working class reclaims the economic and political authority once enjoyed by the mostly white, blue-collar working class of the industrial era, anyone who is not truly affluent will remain living on a precipice of economic anxiety and insecurity. Why? Because the same philosophy that has decimated living standards for the working class is responsible for the weakening of the middle class.

An economy based on disrespect that ignores the needs of workers and their families is not sustainable. We need to address the root cause of these destructive policies to create prosperity that is widely held. We need a new, Better Deal for the working class. We need to invest in people and rebuild our infrastructure. We need to provide high-quality child care for every infant and toddler. We need to transform our current bargain-basement economy into one where all jobs pay a decent wage, labor laws are actually enforced and workers are paid exactly what they are owed.

This is the Better Deal we all need. The alternative — to sit back and watch as the needs of most Americans go unaddressed — simply cannot be an option.

Look for Tamara Drant’s new book, “Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America”.