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April 10, 2010 by Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News  NEW ORLEANS - At Veronica Cooper's New Orleans East home, behind the freshly painted walls and up the ladder leading to the attic, lies what could be the start of a new economic sector in the city. "[We] fix a house and make it more energy efficient," said Earl Wilwright, as he showed off how the home was insulated. "We do two, three homes a week." Wilwright is one of several dozen people now working to make more homes in the city environmentally sound. He trained with the New Orleans-based, non-profit "Limitless Vistas." On Saturday, that group received a $200,000 grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. "We are trying to ride the wave," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. "The green economy is here and upon us and New Orleans is leading the country in it." Jackson, a New Orleans native, presented the grant. It will allow Limitless Vistas to train 40 people a year in Central City and Gert Town, in environmental-related jobs, such as: -- weatherizing homes, to make them more energy efficient -- asbestos and lead removal -- and developing new methods to deliver clean drinking water to municipalities "This gives us an ability to train them and give them job skills and credentials related to the burgeoning green economy and environmental work in general," said Patrick Barnes, founder of Limitless Vistas. "These young people are finding out that there is a whole career available for them in the green economy-- and for them it's weatherization," Jackson said, speaking about the trainees gathered in New Orleans East. "For others, it might be scientific research and technical work. For others, it might be actually making wind turbines or fabricating renewable energy. But that's the space, that's the growth energy-- that's like the Internet was 20 years ago." For homeowner Veronica Cooper, it all translates into a major money saver. Her home flooded during Hurricane Katrina. She finally put the finishing touches on her house last year. The work done by the trainees made a huge difference in her electric bill, but she also said, the program reaches far beyond her home. "Especially for our young men, because if people are out there to help them, they would be better off-- not getting in trouble," Cooper said, "because they're in a program that will help them get a job." Work that can end up being a new lifeline for the trainees and, officials hope, for the city's economy, as well.
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