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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
The new report, “Energy Efficiency Jobs in America 2018,” finds energy efficiency workers now outnumber elementary and middle school teachers, and are nearly double the number of Americans who work in law enforcement.
“This good news buoys us beyond politics to unite a focus on the positive,” said Steve Cowell, president of E4TheFuture. “We have long known that energy efficiency is a major source of jobs, and by conservative estimates, about one in every hundred U.S. adults now works in energy efficiency. Efficiency is also a key strategy for meeting multiple policy objectives. It saves money, improves health, lowers carbon emissions and creates local jobs that cannot be outsourced.”
The report highlights energy efficiency’s growing economic importance. Efficiency added 67,000 net jobs in 2017, making it the fastest-growing job category in the energy sector.
Energy efficiency employs twice as many workers as all fossil fuel industries combined. Efficiency workers now account for 35 percent of all U.S. energy jobs.
“We all know energy efficiency creates savings for consumers and businesses with every month’s electric bill,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2. “We also now know that energy efficiency creates jobs - millions of them - all across America. These are good-paying jobs at your neighborhood construction company, upgrading windows and installing insulation; at your hometown HVAC contractor, installing heat pumps and high-efficiency air conditioners; at your local factory, manufacturing Energy Star appliances and LED lighting systems; and at thousands of related companies nationwide.”
Among the states, California leads energy-efficiency employment with 310,000 jobs, followed by Texas (154,000), New York (117,000), Florida (112,000), and Illinois (87,000).
Seventeen states now employ more than 50,000 workers and the 25 states with the most energy efficiency sector jobs all now employ over 30,000 workers (1.9 million total). Only four states saw a decline in energy efficiency employment in 2017.
With workers in 99.7 percent of U.S. counties, energy efficiency has become a nationwide job engine integral to state and local economic growth.
More than 300,000 energy efficiency jobs are located in America’s rural areas, and 900,000 jobs are found in the nation’s top 25 metro areas. One out of every six U.S. construction workers are involved in energy efficiency, as are more than 315,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the report.
More detailed breakdowns of energy efficiency jobs for all 50 states and the District of Columbia – including job totals for every state’s congressional and legislative district, and maps of each state’s top counties — can be found at http://e2.org/eejobsamerica . See a set of FAQs about the report.
Other key findings:
– 11 percent of energy efficiency jobs are held by veterans, nearly double the national average for veterans’ share of employment (6%);
– In 40 states and the District of Columbia, more Americans work in energy efficiency than work with fossil fuels;
– Construction and manufacturing make up over 70% of U.S. energy efficiency jobs;
– More than 1 million energy efficiency jobs are in heating, ventilation, and cooling technologies;
– Energy efficiency employers are expecting 9% job growth in 2018;
– Energy efficiency now employs workers in 3,000 of America’s 3,007 counties;
– Small businesses are driving America’s energy efficiency job boom, with 79 percent of energy efficiency businesses employing fewer than 20 workers.
The report follows E2’s Clean Jobs America analysis, which found that clean energy employment accounts for nearly 3.2 million jobs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Both reports expand on the 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), released in May by former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO). E4TheFuture and E2 were partners on the USEER.
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- Written by: California Department of Insurance
Jones also urged committee members to oppose the legislation in its current form, which he said will undermine California's stronger data security protections and California's ability to protect insurance consumers in this state.
In part, the letter reads:
"HR 6743 would frustrate California's authority on several levels. HR 6743 would not only preempt the existing privacy notification regulatory framework developed over years of experience at the state level, it would also significantly weaken the duties currently imposed on entities transacting insurance in California to protect or safeguard information and to investigate and mitigate following a breach.
“For example, HR 6743 would substantially limit the circumstances for consumer notification of an information breach so that notification is required only when the breach is 'reasonably likely to result in identity theft, fraud, or economic loss.' California law, by contrast, always requires notification to consumers when personal information is reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person, irrespective of any subjective judgment as to whether such acquisition is "reasonably likely" to result in theft, fraud or financial harm that may befall the consumer. Additionally, irrespective of whether an insurer is domestic or non-domestic, California law requires insurers and other businesses to notify the Attorney General whenever a breach affects more than 500 California residents. HR 6743 would preempt this requirement and hinder California's ability to monitor information breaches affecting Californians.
“When they entrust their sensitive personal financial and health information to insurers, consumers have a right to expect that their information is secure and that they will be properly notified in the event that information is compromised. I urge you to oppose this legislation that will significantly limit my tools and authority to protect our insurance policyholders in California. Preemptive federal standards in this space will not only weaken existing consumer protections, but may inhibit future enhancements to data security practices and innovation necessary for regulators and companies to adapt to evolving threats."
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- Written by: Better Business Bureau
Fake checks are used in a variety of frauds, from employment scams to prize and sweepstakes fraud. In all cases, victims deposit the check and send money back to scammers.
BBB warns consumers to be on guard against these serious and pervasive frauds and their perpetrators.
The investigative study, “Don't Cash That Check: Better Business Bureau Study Shows How Fake Check Scams Bait Consumers,” looks at how fake checks dupe consumers.
It digs into the scope of the problem, who is behind it, and the need for law enforcement and consumer education to address the issue.
Scammers often succeed because consumers don’t realize:
– Crediting a bank account does not mean the cashed check is valid. Federal banking rules require that when someone deposits a check into an account, the bank must make the funds available right away – within a day or two. Even when a check is credited to an account, it does not mean the check is good. A week or so later, if the check bounces, the bank will want the money back. Consumers, not the fraudsters, will be on the hook for the funds.
– Cashier’s checks and postal money orders can be forged. A cashier’s check is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank's own funds and signed by a cashier. If a person deposits a cashier’s check, the person’s bank must credit the account by the next day. The same holds true for postal money orders. Scammers use cashier’s checks and postal money orders because many people don’t realize they can be forged.
“We have found that people, especially young adults need to understand fake check scams in order to protect themselves,” said Lori Wilson, San Francisco BBB President and CEO. “Scammers rely on consumers misunderstanding their checking accounts in order to trick their victims. Consumers should remember that banks credit consumer accounts before verifying that checks are valid, and should make sure to do their homework with the check’s issuer before accepting it.”
Fake check fraud is a huge problem, with complaints to regulatory agencies and consumer watchdog groups doubling over the last three years.
Fraud employing fake checks is rapidly growing and costing billions of dollars. Fake checks were involved in 7 percent of all complaints filed with BBB’s Scam Tracker. The number of complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel database and the Internet Fraud Complaint Center more than doubled between 2014 and 2017.
Based on complaint data trends, the study suggests that there may be over 500,000 victims of counterfeit checks in 2017.
The study found the fraud affects victims of all ages and income levels, but consumers between 20-29 reported being victimized by the scam more than consumers of any other age range.
One St. Louis college student lost hundreds of dollars in a mystery shopper scam using a fake check. After responding to a very professional-looking online job listing for a mystery shopper, he was sent a cashier’s check for almost $2,000. Per instructions, he deposited the check, “mystery shopped” several businesses, and sent $885 to two addresses. His bank informed him later that the $2,000 check was not valid, and he would have to repay the $885 he sent. Although he was able to set up a payment plan to repay it, the loss has been difficult for the local student.
The National Consumers League, which also receives complaints from fraud victims at fraud.org, found that fake checks complaints in 2017 were up 12% and was the second most common type of complaint over all, after online order issues.
Nigerian gangs appear to be behind most of this fraud, often using romance fraud victims and other “money mules” to receive money from victims. Many fake checks and money orders are shipped to the U.S. from Nigeria.
The report recommends:
– Organizations such as BBB and regulatory agencies should do more to provide fake check fraud prevention education.
– With wide-scale use of money mules and others to assist in frauds, it would be useful for law enforcement agencies to work collaboratively to both identify these individuals and to take action to ensure that they end these activities.
– Investigative agencies may need more resources to effectively prosecute fake checks and other widespread frauds.
– Continued law enforcement coordination and training with enforcement counterparts in Nigeria and elsewhere should remain important and should be strengthened.
– Banks and financial institutions might consider more collective efforts to educate their customers about fake check frauds.
What to do if you have deposited a fake check into your account:
– Notify your bank or the bank that appears to have issued the check.
– File a complaint:
Better Business Bureau
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or call 877-FTC-Help
Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Western Union, 1-800-448-1492 https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/file-complaint.html
MoneyGram, 1-800-926-9400 http://global.moneygram.com/nl/en/how-to-report-a-problem
Green Dot, 1-866-795-7597
Canadian Anti Fraud Centre, toll-free from US at 1-888-495-8501
– Victims who are seniors or other vulnerable adults may be able to obtain help through Adult Protective Services, which has offices in every state and many counties. Find a local office at www.elderjustice.gov.
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- Written by: California Controller's Office
Total revenues of $9.98 billion for August were higher than anticipated in the budget by $1.14 billion, or 12.9 percent.
For the first two months of the 2018-19 fiscal year, revenues are $846.0 million, or 5.4 percent, higher than projected in the enacted budget.
While corporation tax missed the mark for the month of August, personal income tax, or PIT, and sales tax – the other two of the “big three” revenue sources – came in higher than assumed in the enacted budget.
For August, PIT receipts of $5.94 billion were $440.3 million, or 8.0 percent, more than expected.
August corporation taxes of $92.3 million were $74.9 million, or 44.8 percent, below 2018-19 Budget Act estimates.
Sales tax receipts of $3.50 billion for August were $766.4 million, or 28.0 percent, more than anticipated in the FY 2018-19 budget. Most of the variance was due to when the money was recorded.