Green job

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Other associations such as the Sustainable Business Network are pooling the networking and purchasing power of small businesses throughout the region. The Greater Philadelphia Green Business Commitment creates building owner and tenant checklists that help foster further demand for green jobs. Financing Sources: Much like private employers must be at the heart of green job creation, private investors must play a key role in financing the investments in green technological advances that will themselves promote the green jobs movement. ”

“ The city’s funding authority would also provide the mechanism by which these funds could be revolved, using part of the energy savings from businesses and households as the repayment stream, until the city and region’s entire building stock was brought to optimal energy efficiency. Extensive labor market intermediaries: For a variety of important reasons, green job initiatives throughout the nation have depended on a broad set of intermediaries to help ensure:
• workers receive the training they need to do these jobs; • green jobs are good jobs, with fair pay and benefits ”

“ The law states that auto companies are required to have 18 months simply from the directive -- from rules being passed to production to plan, right. So not only do you have that 18 months, but again, you have a proposal that Congress passed in December of 2007 -- I think more than -- more than adequately gives companies and suppliers the planning time that they need, and consumers -- so the consumers can make decisions.
[REPORTER] : The President again promised today that he could create a million new green jobs. Could you define in simply terms, what is a "green" job? ”

“ Through investments in scientific research and development, and the vigorous pursuit of alternative and renewable energy, we can create millions of green jobs that allow us to reduce greenhouse gases and excel in a competitive global 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Building a new power grid, manufacturing solar panels, weatherizing homes and office buildings, renovating schools are just a few examples of ways in which we can create good-quality green jobs to strengthen our economy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For example, industrial machinery mechanics who work in power generation, an emerging green sector, earn about $28 per hour. Interestingly, mechanics with similar jobs, but who do not work in that power generating sector, earn about $6 less per hour, suggesting a sizeable wage premium associated with some green jobs. ”

“ In order to examine the extent of these differences across a set of occupations associated with green jobs, the table below shows wages for jobs in power generation and turbine manufacturing, two highly green industries, compared to wages for those same jobs in all other industries. ”

“ The Obama/Biden Administration and the Middle-Class Taskforce will continue to track these developments, and to look for ever new ways to expand and promote green jobs as a pathway into a strong, environmentally sound middle class. ”

“ With these partnerships and by employing these new resources, the Administration can fund and develop model programs that will train thousands of Americans for the new green jobs of the future, while helping to provide them with a pathway into the middle class. ”

“ These public mandates create incentives and generate resources for green jobs investment. For example, Act 129 is expected to generate $85 million of energy savings per year in metropolitan Philadelphia service territory to pay for programs to reduce electricity consumption, much of which will be devoted to the installation of weatherization in residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. Elected Officials: Having engaged public officials who are dedicated to improving the environment and creating good jobs is of course an integral piece of the puzzle. ”

“ The Fund would be administered in accordance with the research conducted by the ESD and the GISPs on high-demand green industries and good green jobs. The Fund would distribute competitive grants to organizations or group of organizations with proven success implementing workforce training programs. These grants would also seek training programs targeted towards adults and youth in families below twice the poverty line, dislocated workers, and entry-level workers in green industries. ”

“ With the appointments I announced earlier in the week and with those I'm announcing today, I am confident that we have the team that we need to make the rural agenda America's agenda, to create millions of new green jobs, to free our nation from its dependence on oil and to help preserve this planet for our children. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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 ”

“ Key provisions of the ARRA that will help create green jobs and pave the way for future green investments include:
• Building Thousands of Miles of High-Tech Transmission Lines: We know that the existing electricity grid today is insufficient and outdated. For example, North Dakota – a state with significant wind energy potential – cannot carry the energy to the population centers that need the electricity most without a new transmission superhighway. ”

“ Condiments and spices are as ancient as civilization. The oldest books of the scriptures, notably Exodus, Leviticus, Job and the Canticles, make frequent reference to salt and spices, substances which were then costly, chiefly dedicated to royalty and the uses of temple and altar. The Greeks followed the Semitic customs to some extent in their disposition of spices, not using them as largely in their food as have later races. ”

“ Whether we’re talking about homeowners replacing their windows or going solar, workers moving from old manufacturing to green manufacturing, venture investors looking to do well by doing good, unions looking to tap the blue/green nexus, elected officials putting the pieces of the puzzle together, it all amounts to the same thing: building a better, cleaner economy with good jobs for all. ”