Energy Jobs

‘Fearless Girl’ Becomes Powerful Symbol

1. She is called “Fearless Girl. ”

2. She is only 4 feet tall. But she has her hands on her hips. Her chin is raised. She looks straight ahead. She looks brave and strong.

3. She has also become famous around the world.

4. “Fearless Girl” is a 250-pound bronze statue. It stands in a park in New York City’s Financial District.

5. It faces another famous statue. That one is a huge, charging bull.

6. “Fearless Girl” was to be taken down this month. But its fans just got good news. It will stay for 11 more months through a city art program.

7. Both statues are symbols. That means they stand for something else.

8. “Charging Bull” has been in the park since 1987. It was created by artist Arthur Di Morlica after a stock market crash in 1987. It is 11 feet tall. It weighs 7, 100 pounds.

9. It stands for what is called a “bull market. ” That is when prices of stocks are rising. A “bear market” in when stock prices are falling. The bull is a symbol for the “can-do” spirit of the U. S.

10. The bull is popular with tourists to the city. But the new statue has become an instant star, too.

11. It was put in the park in March by a financial group. It is called State Street Global Advisers. The McCann ad firm was also part of the project. The girl stands for the idea that more women should have lead roles in the business world.

12. Kristen Visbal created “Fearless Girl. ” One of her models was a friend’s young daughter. That girl is white. But a Latina model also was used to appeal to more people.

13. The statue has a plaque at its feet. It says, “Know the power of women in leadership. ”

14. ISS Analytics is a business research firm. It says women make up only 16 percent of company boards. A board is a group of people who make decisions for a firm.

15. Visbal says a good piece of art should create debate. And “Fearless Girl” has.

16. DiModica is not happy about the new statue. He wants the girl gone. He says she is just an advertising trick. He says his bull is real art.

News for You, April 12, 2017

Energy Jobs

Here are the numbers of jobs as of January, 2017 for different types of energy. Solar energy comes from the sun. Bioenergy is created from natural sources, such as ethanol from corn. Hydropower is created by moving water. Geothermal energy comes from the heat inside the Earth.

Solar = 373, 807 jobs

Bioenergy = 130, 677

Wind = 101, 738

Nuclear = 76, 771

Coal Mining= 74, 084

Hydropower=65, 554

Geothermal = 5, 768

Trump Lifts

Environmental Rules to End ‘War on Coal’

1. During his election campaign, President Donald Trump promised to end the “war on coal. ”

2. Now, he has taken a step toward keeping that promise. He has signed an executive order to undo many rules that were supposed to help limit climate change.

3. Most scientists agree that burning coal and oil creates what are called greenhouse gases. Those gases trap dirty air and heat above the earth. Some of that heat helps to keep us warm. But too much heat causes problems.

4. Trump wants the U. S. to produce more fossil fuels. Those fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas.

5. Trump signed the order at the offices of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A group of coal miners stood around him.

6. Trump said the order is about “bringing back our jobs, bringing back our dreams, and making America wealthy again. ”

7. The order means that the Clean Power Act will be reviewed. The act limits the amount of greenhouse gases from plants that are powered by coal. It would also let companies start new coal mines on federal land. President Barack Obama stopped new mines more than a year ago. He wanted three years to make changes that would help the climate.

8. But it is not clear that coal jobs will come back. Many power companies are moving away from coal. Instead, they are using natural gas to power their plants. Natural gas is cheaper and cleaner to use.

9. Mining companies have also turned to machines to do much of their work. Human jobs have been cut over manyyears.

10. The Energy Department says there are now about 74, 000 jobs in coal mining. There are more than 650, 000 jobs in renewable energy. That includes the sun and the wind.

11. The cost of using those sources has come down. And they do not create greenhouse gases.

12. It will take many years to rewrite the Clean Power Act. Environmental groups will fight the order in court. Some states say they will also fight it.

13. Trump’s action has also sent a message to other world leaders. In 2015, 170 countries set goals to limit greenhouse gases. They would help prevent the melting of ice and the rising of seas. That treat is called the Paris Agreement.

14. The Trump administration has not decided whether it will stop following that agreement. But the new order could make it harder to reach the agreement’s goals.

15. China has promised to follow the agreement. It emits more greenhouse gases than any other nation. But it has also begun to invest in wind and solar energy.

16. That promise means China could become the new leader on climate policy.

News for You, April 12, 2017

Former ‘Tallest Teen’ Gets Special Shoes to Fit Huge Feet

1. Broc Brown is very, very tall. He once held the record for world’s tallest teenager. Brown also has huge feet. They are a size 28. That makes it very hard to find shoes.

2. Brown got lucky last month. A shoe company sent him a pair of shoes. They were a perfect fit. They were made using a 3-D printer.

3. Brown is now 19 years old. That is why he no longer holds the Guinness World Record. He stopped being counted as a “teenager” at age 18.

4. Brown lives in Michigan. He is 7 feet 8 inches tall. He hasn’t stopped growing yet.

5. No one know when he will stop growing. He has a disease called Sotos Syndrome. About 1 in every 15, 000 people have it.

6. Sotos is the cause of Brown’s tallness. But it causes other problems, too. He has mood problems. His back hurts. His knees hurt, too.

7. Finding shoes is also a pain for Brown. “I can walk into a store and walk out with five pairs of shoes, ” said Stacy Snyder. She is Brown’s aunt. “He can’t. ”

8. The shoe company Feetz came to Brown’s aid. The company made him a pair of black and red shoes. Those are the colors of his favorite basketball team, the Chicago Bulls.

9. “Whoa, ” Brown said. “Heck, I don’t like them. I love them. Thank you. ”

10. Lucy Beard runs Feetz. The company uses an app. An app is a simple software program.

11. The Feetz app turns a picture of someone’s foot into a 3-D shape. That shape can be measured. Then Feetz uses a 3-D printer to make shoes that are a perfect fit.

12. “We’ve never done a shoe this big before, ” Beard said. “We’re just excited to get Broc some comfy shoes. We’re really just honored to do this. ”

13. Feetz shoes cost between $99 and $250. They are made-to-order. Other shoes that are made-to-order often cost at least $400 or $500.

14. Brown now thinks he can step his way back into the Guinness Book of World Records.

15. “These definitely are the world’s largest 3-D-printed shoes, ” he said.

News for You, April 12, 2017

Texas Town Looks to Tell Story of Mexican Guest Workers

The largest guest worker program in the U. S. ran from 1942 to 1964. It brought in millions of short-term workers from Mexico. But very few people know about it.

Officials in a Texas border town hope to change that fact. The town is restoring an old farm. The farm processed workers for the braceros program. Officials want to save the historical site and use it to teach Americans about the program.

Rio Vista Farm is in Socorro, Texas. Its crumbling white buildings once served as an arrival point for braceros. That word is Spanish for laborers.

The braceros program started during World War II. Mexicans came to work on U. S. farms and railroads. They signed 4. 6 million short-term contracts while the program lasted. Some workers came through more than once.

The program didn’t offer an easier path to U. S. citizenship. But many braceros later became citizens.

Rio Vista Farm was one of five arrival centers for the program. It is thought to be the only one still standing. Workers spent anywhere from an hour to a day there. Then they were sent out to work sites.

Francisco Uvina went through Rio Vista. He is now 83 years old. He later became a U. S. citizen.

The braceros program was both good and bad, Uvina said. The good part was the money workers could earn. The bad part was how workers were sometimes treated.

When they arrived at Rio Vista, braceros were stripped naked. They were “disinfected” with insect-killing chemicals.

Braceros often worked in difficult conditions. Uvina recalled picking cotton in the cold. He couldn’t wear gloves. The buildings where workers lived had no heat.

“It wasn’t perfect, and there were a lot of really sad and ugly parts to this story, ” admitted Sehilla Casper. She is working with a nonprofit group to help restore the site.

The group is looking for stories from workers who came through Rio Vista between 1951 and 1964.

Rio Vista Farm is 102 years old. The project to restore the site will add a cultural center. The site will also have the city’s first library.

Socorro’s mayor is the daughter of a former bracero. Her father didn’t come through Rio Vista, but the project still holds meaning for her.

“The site is not visited very often, ” said Mayor Gloria Rodriguez. “Maybe if we can preserve it a little bit better, it will be. ”

News for You, April 12, 2017

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