Get it together before you prepare your taxes.

Having the right information at hand is half the battle when doing your taxes. Use this checklist to help you gather the information you need, and save yourself some time!

Personal Information
Social Security Numbers (including spouse, children, and other dependents)
Child care provider: Name, address, and tax I.D. or Social Security Number
Residential address(s) for this year

Employment & Income Information
W-2 forms from all employers
Retirement income (IRA distributions, pension plans, annuities): Forms 1099-R
Interest and dividend income: Forms 1099 from banks, brokerage firms, or mutual fund companies)
Small business income: Schedule C
Unemployment compensation: Forms 1099-G
Miscellaneous income: Forms 1099-MISC
Investment income (sales of stocks, bonds, mutual funds)
State and local income tax refunds: Form 1099-G
Scholarships or grants received: Form 1099-G
Alimony received: Form 1099-G

Deductible Payments
IRA contributions
Student loan interest payments
Alimony payments

Itemized Deductions
Medical expenses
Real estate taxes paid
Personal property taxes (includes auto)
Home mortgage interest
Gifts to charity

Other Expenses
Unreimbursed expenses related to your job
Child care expenses
Educational expenses
Moving expenses

Miscellaneous
Federal, state, and local estimated income tax paid for current year
Records to document medical expenses
Records for any other expenditures that may be deductible
Records for any other revenue or sales of property that may be taxable or reportable

Who should attend?
Everyone interested in learning about environmentally friendly goods & services for use in modern everyday living.

What will you see?
• Over 200 Booths / Exhibits
• Green Job Expo
• Interactive Seminars / Speeches
• Green Marketplace
• Demonstrations & hands on activities

When?
Friday, April 16th, 2010 • 10am – 5pm

Business-to-Business & Business-to-Consumer Expo
Saturday, April 17th, 2010 • 10am – 6pm
Sunday, April 18th, 2010 • 10am – 5pm

Where?
Greater Philadelphia Expo Center
100 Station Avenue
Oaks, PA 19456
484-754-3976
www.phillyexpocenter.com

Why?
To learn how green alternatives can positively change the way you impact the environment. Each of our small changes make a big impact.

How?
Click HERE for tickets

Tickets:
Friday: Complimentary to Business Buyers
(please bring your business card for admission)
Saturday & Sunday: $10 for a full weekend pass
$5 for Students & Seniors with proper ID; Children 12 and under are Free

RESPECT!!!!!!! The feed view and subscription keep blowing up. I hope everyone is in great spirits this week and thanks for your ipod/ iphone support. Shout out to all my people who performed at SXSW and WMC. This week we are going to bless you with some reggae soul. I been waiting on this one all season. So enjoy.
Click Cover::

Where: Piers 92/94
Price: $25 for a weekend pass
When: 10:00am Fri 3.19.10-5:00pm Fri 3.19.10 with 2 other showtimes 3.19.10 through 3.21.10

Obama talked about his tour of the campus, including facilities where students learn about green technology that will “help transform how we produce and use electricity.”

He pointed out that the Recovery Act has helped fund 300 road projects in the state at the moment, and also mentioned the billions of dollars in loan guarantees he announced last week for the construction of Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle, which he says will create 3,000 construction jobs and over 800 permanent jobs upon completion. This drew applause from the crowd.

The loan guarantee also drew several anti-nuclear protesters outside, including one who was wearing a pig suit and waving a sign decrying “nuclear pork.”

Foremost on the President’s agenda was green technology, jobs and the Recovery Act, all of which segued into his announcement of the new Home Star program.

He did not discuss whether the program would be paid with unused Stimulus money, or whether it would require further investment of taxpayer money.

“My job is to make sure every American can find a job,” the President told the crowd.

The Home Star program will include incentives for home owners to make their homes more energy efficient, upgrades like better windows, insulation and more, which would also stimulate jobs for contractors and construction workers. The improvements would also save homeowners money.

The program could make a significant difference in our national energy consumption.

According to Obama, “40 percent of the energy we use is in our homes and buildings.”

The real scoop: As outlined in a memo that was formally endorsed by PERAB members on Dec. 4, HOME STAR would reimburse homeowners for residential energy upgrades such as air sealing, insulation, new light bulbs and new appliances. Homeowners would be eligible to receive up to $2,000 for implementing at least two upgrades from a list of qualifying measures, or up to $3,500 for at least four qualifying measures. Higher incentives would be available to homeowners who achieve energy savings of at least 20 percent. Weatherization projects that reduce energy consumption by 20 percent would be eligible to receive up to $4,000 in incentive money, plus $1,500 for every additional 5 percent reduction in energy consumption. The Times also notes that all HOME STAR incentives would be capped at 50 percent of project costs, and a percentage of projects would be audited to ensure that the improvements perform as expected. The plan is projected to cost $23 billion over two years.

For now, read details from the Efficiency First blog:

Democrats are pushing to have energy provisions included in the new jobs bill, even as climate advocates warn that pulling popular programs from the climate bill could further cripple their already-dimmed chance of passage this spring.

“If you take some of the green stuff out, some of the goodies, and put it in the jobs bill, you’re hurting the idea of having an energy package that would attract support,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who’s working on drafting a climate bill with Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.).

The three senators have been meeting regularly and hope to take up their legislation this spring, with significant bipartisan support.

But the outlook for passing a climate bill has dimmed after a bruising battle over health care reform and the loss of the Democrats’ 60-vote supermajority in the Senate.

And that has moderate Democrats looking to put some of the most popular energy provisions into the jobs package that is rapidly taking shape.

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, who opposes passing a climate bill this year, suggested using the energy bill as the base for jobs legislation, which has had bipartisan backing.

“We can use that bill and combine it with parts of the jobs package and really lay out a framework to get America working again,” said Landrieu, who voted against the energy bill in committee. “I think energy is the best place we could go right now to create jobs.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32430.html#ixzz0eU7m2raT

The long-running battle over plans to deepen the shipping channel in the Delaware River appears to be inching closer to an end despite last-minute objections from officials in New Jersey and Delaware.
After more than a decade of dispute, the Army Corps of Engineers plans to begin dredging the river as early as January or February. The work would begin even though environmental regulators in Delaware have yet to sign off on the plan, and the governors in New Jersey and Delaware threatened this week to take steps to block the dredging.

It’s unclear how much the latest fight is centered on politics. Gov. Corzine is in a tight reelection battle and may be looking to maintain support from South Jersey voters opposed to the dredging. Meanwhile, Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) is locked in his own reelection fight, yet he backs the project and lobbied the White House for its support.

The confusing politics only complicates the long-standing dispute over the environmental impact of the dredging versus the anticipated economic benefits from more port activity. What’s more, there’s the estimated $379 million cost to taxpayers to do the dredging.

Gov. Rendell and other top elected officials in Pennsylvania support the project. But officials in New Jersey and Delaware continue to raise questions.

Despite the lack of a permit from Delaware, Assistant Army Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy agreed last week to go forward with the dredging.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said he remains ready to take the necessary action to ensure the Army Corps gets a permit from the First State. Meanwhile, Corzine ordered his attorney general to prepare a lawsuit to “stop this irresponsible move.”

Delaware denied a permit for the work in July – six years after the Army applied for it. Delaware environmental officials contended that the scope of the project had changed. If so, Delaware’s own bureaucracy shared the blame for sitting on the request for years.

In moving this important project forward without Delaware’s approval, Darcy cited a doctrine of “federal supremacy” that empowers the Army to safeguard interstate navigation.

Backers of the plan are right: The river deepening is crucial to keeping the Delaware River ports competitive at a time when longshoreman jobs already are in short supply due to the drop in all freight traffic amid the recession.

The dredged dirt, sand, and muck will be trucked to abandoned coal mines in northeastern Pennsylvania, addressing the primary environmental concern.

Rendell pledges that Delaware officials will share oversight of the dredging. That will enable joint monitoring of the project’s effect on the aquatic life and drinking water. But it’s troubling that the three states at this late date still aren’t on the same page.

What’s the proof?

While there are still plenty who are skeptical that the downturn has ended, here are five positive trends that support a more optimistic view:

1. The stock market is acting more like a bull than a bear. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index is now up 58 percent from its March 9 low. “Over the last sixty years, the market has bottomed a median of 5 months before the recession ended,” says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s in New York. “That would mean the recession came to an end at the end of August.”

2. New claims for unemployment peaked on March 28 when they hit 674,000. Now, they are down to 550,000. “Typically, after claims have peaked, the recovery is coming in four to eight weeks,” says economist Bob Brusca of Fact and Opinion Economics in New York.

New unemployment claims reflect people who are getting laid off. “As the economy gets stronger, you expect fewer people [to be] getting displaced and the claims levels to drop – which they have done with regularity through the years,” says Mr. Brusca. “It’s a very good statistical indicator of when the recession is at its worst and when it’s going to end.”

3. Many manufacturing sectors are finally turning up. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose 0.8 percent in August, the second consecutive monthly increase.

Automobile production has been particularly strong, rising 43 percent in July and 12 percent in August. Much of the increase was related to the so-called “Cash for Clunkers” program. The steel industry, which sells a lot of product to the auto industry, has seen production rise sharply from May to August.

“There has been a big inventory swing,” says Dan Meckstroth, chief economist at the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI in Arlington, Va. “Usually, manufacturing doesn’t lead the business cycle but it was driven down so brutally, we’re getting a rebound effect,” he says.

4. Gasoline deliveries have risen for the past three months, after declining for over a year and a half. Although increased gasoline usage may be the result of low prices (compared with a year ago), it may also signal that more people are commuting or shopping. “It could be a sign we are moving out of the recession,” says John Felmy, an economist with the American Petroleum Institute (API) in Washington.

However, Mr. Felmy notes that goods often get shipped before they get sold. Besides, he says, demand for diesel has not picked up yet.

“I’m not ready to call an end to the recession until diesel demand is up,” he says.

5. Demand for freight transportation is rising, according to the Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) put together by the US Department of Transportation.

The index, which measures the output of trucks, railroads, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight, rose 1.6 percent in July. This is the first increase since February and the largest since January 2008.

Over the past 25 years, an upturn in this index has been “coincident” with upturns in the economy, says Ken Notis, an economist at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. “I would be wary about drawing too large a conclusion from one month,” says Mr. Notis, but he adds, “we also had a prior month of stability.”

His conclusion: improvement in the TSI is consistent with the stabilization of growth and the bottoming of Gross Domestic Product.

Read More About It……

Courtesy of The GreenandSave Eco-Academy

This guide to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.

Below is a list of the 10 Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade.

Farmer – There are only two million farmers in the United States, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a growing need for more farmers, potentially up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Related careers: urban gardener; farmers market and CSA coordinator; artisanal cheesemakers; and other food producers.

Forester – Modern forestry is a complex combination of international project finance, conservation and development. Foresters help local people transition from slash-and-burn to teaching cultivation of higher-value, faster-growing species for fruit, medicine or timber, while carefully documenting the impact on the environment.

Solar Power Installer – Making and installing solar power systems already accounts for some 770,000 jobs globally. Installing solar-thermal water heaters and rooftop photovoltaic cells is a relatively high-paying job, $15 to $35 an hour for those with construction skills.

Energy Efficiency Builder - Buildings account for up to 48 percent of US energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Greening the US building stock will take not only skilled architects and engineers, but a workforce of retrofitters who can use spray foam insulation and storm windows to massively improve the R-value (thermal resistance) of the draftiest old houses.

Wind Turbine Fabricator – Wind is the leading and fastest-growing source of alternative energy with over 300,000 jobs worldwide. Turbines are 90% metal by weight, creating an opportunity for autoworkers and other manufacturers to repurpose their skills.

Conservation Biologist – The urgent quest to preserve the integrity of ecosystems around the world and to quantify the value of ecosystems services leads to opportunities in teaching, research and fieldwork for government, nonprofits, and private companies. The forthcoming economic stimulus package from the Obama administration offers the prospect of increased federal support for science and research.

Green MBA and Entrepreneur - The concept of the triple bottom line has migrated from the margins to the mainstream of the business world. This includes everything from marketing to the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) segment, to serving as a VP of sustainability within a large company, to piloting a green startup like Method or Recyclebank.

Recycler – The total number of recycling jobs in the United States is at more than 1 million, according to recent reports. Although the market for paper and plastic has slowed down recently due to the economic downturn, demand for steel is still strong and recycling remains the economical alternative to high disposal fees. New laws and regulations are also creating a need for specialized companies that can close the loop by recycling and repurposing e-waste, clothing, plastic bags, construction waste, and other materials.

Sustainability Systems Developer – The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build, and maintain the networks of sensors and stochastic modeling that underpin wind farms, smart energy grids, congestion pricing and other systems substituting intelligence for natural resources.

Home Efficiency Consultants – As more and more homeowners gain interest in living healthier and “greener” the growing demand for Home Efficiency Consultants will continue to rise. These individuals provide invaluable services to homeowners by reviewing their home and providing a means to saving at least $500 in home operating costs. This job is accessible to individuals with varying degrees of skill and education.