Green Jobs and the Economy
On Tuesday March 31st 2009, the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing that examined green jobs and their role in our nation’s economic recovery. The purpose of the hearing was to define the term green jobs, classify factors that grow green jobs, articulate the skills workers will need for green jobs, and identify how we can educate our future workforce for these jobs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sets aside $500 million in competitive Workforce Investment Act grants to help train American workers for green jobs in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries.
GREEN JOBS
You have white collar jobs, and you have blue collar jobs…. and now you have green collar jobs. Green jobs are jobs within the environmental sectors of the economy. Generally, they implement environmentally conscious design, policy, and technology to improve conservation and sustainability. There’s a growing movement in the business world to increase social responsibility. A sustainable green economy simultaneously values the importance of natural resources and inclusive, equitable, and healthy opportunities for all communities.
Here is list of popular green jobs:
- Green Business Owners
- Organic Farmers
- Environmental Lawyers
- Ecology Educators
- Ecotechnology Workers
- Solar Energy Engineers
- Wind Energy Engineers
- Green Building Architects
- Environmental Consultants
- Conservation Movement Workers
- Green Vehicle Engineers
GREEN JOB GROWTH
Vital to fighting global warming, experts say, is the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases, predominantly carbon dioxide.
The main cause of global warming is human activity, particularly carbon emissions from residential and commercial buildings, power plants and transportation, according to scientists.
Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said green jobs will burgeon in various new technologies needed to fight global warming.
“If we really are serious about addressing global warming, we will need new technology in transportation, energy technology-renewable [energy], technology related to carbon capture and sequestration, new building-related technology [to cut emissions from buildings], air conditioning, insulation, windows, light [fixtures],” Claussen said. “But I think you have to balance that with jobs in old technology that will go away. The world is going to change, and every time you have a change there are winners and losers.”
Still, she said she believes there will be an overall growth in green jobs.
Claussen said addressing global warming will drive a need for non-technology-related jobs, as well: state and national government officials to write rules about how new technologies are used; economists to evaluate costs and benefits of investments; and international negotiators to hammer out global frameworks as technology expands.
“No sector of the economy will be untouched,” Claussen said.