Joe Biden

“ Green Jobs and Green Job Training in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The current recession is causing serious hardships for millions of Americans, but it also presents America with an opportunity. In charting our way out of this downturn, we have a chance to not only boost our economy, but to also address our pressing energy challenges by putting Americans back to work in green industries. We can develop new opportunities for today’s American workers and also for their children. ”

“ We devote more space to definitions below, but we define green jobs quite broadly as employment that is associated with some aspect of environmental improvement. A scientist working on advanced renewable energy alternatives to CO2-producing fossil fuels is engaged in a green job, but so is a laborer weatherizing a home or a lineman--or linewoman--building out the smart electric grid. ”

“ The public sector and the private sector each have strengths and weaknesses, and it is important for the government to recognize its own weaknesses and actively seek ways to exploit the strengths of the private sector to advance a green jobs program. By structuring public policy in ways that encourage financing of green investments and working to ease the bottlenecks in green investment, the government can leverage the unique capabilities of the private sector to spur green job creation. ”

“ Private employers: The vast majority of green jobs in America will be created by private employers, not by the government. Yes, government at all levels can and should work with businesses to create the structure—the monetary and regulatory incentives, the siting issues, some of the high fixed costs that cannot be externalized—within which green jobs can flourish. But at the beginning and the end of the day, private employers must be the ones who create green jobs in this country. ”

“ Having a full-time job that pays above the minimum wage represents economic progress in and of itself for many program participants. Some previously had no income at all, or very meager incomes from public assistance; others were working at minimum wage jobs. But an additional goal of green job training initiatives should be to ensure that disadvantaged workers can get on a career pathway that leads to greater opportunity and the family-sustaining wages that middle-skill green jobs can provide. ”

“ The name of the group invokes the President Kennedy’s Apollo Program, suggesting that we can create a clean energy economy if we devote the same national will and resources to it that we did to putting a man on the moon. The alliance promotes investments in energy efficiency, clean power, mass transit, next-generation vehicles, and emerging technologies, as well as in education and training. The overall goal is reduce carbon emission and oil imports, while spurring domestic job growth. ”

“ Van Jones, founder and president of Green for All, adds yet another dimension, “blue-collar employment that has been upgraded to better respect the environment; family-supporting, career-track, vocational, or trade-level employment in environmentally-friendly fields, such as electricians who install solar panels; plumbers who install solar water heaters; farmers engaged in organic agriculture and some bio-fuel production; and construction workers who build energy-efficient green buildings, wind power farms, solar farms and wave energy farms.” ”

“ For example, pre-apprenticeship programs at community colleges, like the Seattle Vocational Institute’s Construction Training Program, can help open up new pathways into green labor apprenticeship programs for low-skilled minorities and women. Another strategy, which has been employed successfully in Newark, New Jersey, is to require green economic development projects to train local low-income residents for the construction jobs that they create. Initiatives like these can help ensure that the green building boom creates new opportunities for those seeking pathways out of poverty. ”

“ The Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board consists of leaders drawn from three sectors: non-profit leaders who educate and advocate for green issues, public-sector leaders from suburban counties and state agencies, and private-sector leaders from both business and labor. The Mayor’s commitment, including the nation’s first big-city cabinet-level Director of Sustainability, ensures that the public mandates described above become an organizing principle of policy development and operational practice across every aspect of government. ”

“ They are largely domestic jobs that can’t be offshored. They tend to pay more than other jobs, even controlling for worker characteristics. Moreover, green jobs are an outgrowth of a larger movement to reform the way we create and use energy in both this country and the rest of the world. They represent a growth sector, and one that offers the dual promise of providing good jobs while meeting the environmental challenge to reduce our dependence on finite fossil fuels that generate harmful carbon emissions. ”

“ Extensive Labor Market Intermediaries Train Workers to Fill Newly Created Green Jobs The City of Los Angeles has undertaken or is in the midst of undertaking several initiatives that, together, begin to constitute a model for how cities can maximize the benefits of “going green” for working families. As is often the case, necessity was the mother of policy innovation. A few years ago, the city faced a number of stark challenges including: a state renewable energy mandate (a statewide “portfolio standard” requiring 20% renewable energy by 2017) and a state cap on greenhouse gas emissions ”

“ Financing Green Jobs The history of energy investment in any large, open economy has involved both public and private investment, with the public sector often playing an initial role, leading the way for venture private funding. Green energy, and thus green job creation, is no different. Many of the firms and industries creating green jobs today present real growth opportunities for private investors. ”

“ Green for All describes itself as a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. The methods and tools of the operation are much like those described throughout this study, including public/private partnerships, connecting with labor market intermediaries for training, etc. But the organization also maintains a deep commitment to ensuring that persons of color and those from disadvantaged communities get an opportunity to get green jobs, thereby tapping into a growth sector and a potential foothold into the middle class. ”

“ The financing challenge, a typical one in the energy sector, is that up-front costs of, for example, weatherization, lead to larger savings down the road. To address this challenge, the Me2 program uses a public/private mix of investment capital to pay for weatherization in properties where such work would produce large savings. The savings to the consumer are then paid back by only gradually reducing their monthly bill. ”

“ BEST graduates continue to be in high demand, in large part because of Sustainable South Bronx’s commitment to partnering with business and closely tracking the evolving needs of the green labor market. Over 80% of BEST graduates are still employed, and 15% have gone to college. After 5 years of success, BEST is now a model for other cities looking to give their low income residents a pathway into the new green economy. ”

“ All of these definitions consistently point to at least three crucial characteristics of green jobs:
• Green jobs involve some task associated with improving the environment, including reducing carbon emissions and creating and/or using energy more efficiently; • Green jobs should be good jobs that provide a sustainable family wage, health and retirement benefits, and decent working conditions; • Green jobs should be available to diverse workers from across the spectrum of race, gender, and ethnicity. ”

“ Green jobs are a natural place to begin this effort. The green sector of our economy is still developing, and will generate many jobs and career pathways that did not previously exist. At this early stage, we have an opportunity to ensure that this sector is open to workers seeking that first rung on the ladder to the middle class, particularly younger workers who are just starting out and trying to overcome the disadvantages of their childhood. ”

“ According to a study by Roger Bezdek of Management Information Systems, Inc., the renewable energy industry (excluding hydropower) grew at over three times the rate of the American economy as a whole. Accelerating private investment in these fields has the potential to help boost the numbers of green jobs, while also offering clear environmental benefits and solid opportunities for profit in the private sector. ”

“ The CEC would bring together Americans who want to serve in the fight against global warming, yet lack organized opportunities to do so, with other Americans who seek pathways out of poverty or better employment in the clean energy economy, yet lack the necessary skills or connections to employers. Additionally it would connect even more American homeowners, businesses, local governments and schools, who want to reduce energy costs where they live, work and learn, but lack the financing to do so. ”

“ The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of business, environmental, religious, community, and labor leaders working toward a clean energy economy that hopes to put millions of Americans to work in 21st-century, high-quality, green-collar jobs. ”

“ Crews of 8-10 work together on environmental projects around the city of Denver, including energy conservation in low-income housing, public land and water conservation, and, as part of the federally-supported YouthBuild program, green construction of new affordable housing. The work is paid and provides on-the-job training, which is accompanied by Corps-to-Career classes that teach job search and job preparedness skills. Corps members also receive basic education to make sure that they are ready to succeed post-program. ”

“ In the past year, Los Angeles has adopted a comprehensive approach to redevelopment which will ensure that city-subsidized development projects are built green and serve as vehicles for moving low-income residents into middle-class construction careers. ”

“ In this way, city leaders have begun to lay the foundations for building a green-collar construction workforce in Los Angeles. The UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education projects that the policy will make at least 5,000 apprentice-level construction jobs available to residents of neighborhoods with high levels of unemployment over the next five years. At least 1,500 jobs are expected to go to individuals who might otherwise remain homeless, unemployed, dependent on welfare programs, or caught up in the criminal justice system. ”

“ Run by Sustainable South Bronx, an environmental justice nonprofit, the BEST Program trains local low-income residents for skilled labor in green industries. Participants, nearly all of whom have been on some form of public assistance, go through a 10-week training program in jobs involved in green building, urban forestry, and other green industries. The program awards certificates for the various competencies in which it provides training, and also helps trainees to develop basic job skills. ”

“ Green Jobs and Economic Mobility Green jobs can also provide a pathway into the middle class for those who are struggling economically. As President Obama noted at the announcement of the Middle Class Task Force on January 30, the task force’s work will include developing policy solutions for “people who aspire to be in the middle class. We’re not forgetting the poor. ”

“ Secretary of Labor Designee Solis brings particular expertise in this area, as a principal author of the Green Jobs Act of 2007. The Labor Department can provide leadership in targeting disadvantaged populations and fostering partnerships among employers, state and local government, labor unions, and community-based organizations, to ensure that green job training programs bring new people into the labor market in the most promising sectors of a local economy. ”

“ Further analysis by the CEA shows that after controlling for such differences, workers in green jobs typically earn better wages than workers in comparable non-green occupations, with a premium ranging from about 10-20 percent. This advantage is more substantial for workers in renewable energy industries, but the wage advantage is present for green jobs of many kinds. ”