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Written by Lindsay Crowder   
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Friday, 26 September 2008

Growth of Green Collar Jobs

You may already be familiar with the terms white-collar or blue-collar jobs, but now a new color is entering the scene: green-collar. As we continue to deplete our natural resources, as the climate crisis gains more momentum, and as environmental protection becomes a national concern, the notion of green jobs is receiving its fair share of attention. According to an article in the New York Times, “Labor unions view these new jobs as replacements for positions lost to overseas manufacturing and outsourcing. Urban groups view training in green jobs as a route out of poverty. And environmentalists say they are crucial to combating climate change.”¹ With an estimated 8.5 million jobs in renewable energy or energy efficient industries, and 3 to 5 million more jobs to be generated in the next 10 years, our economy is obviously shifting to a deeper shade of green.

The rise of green-collar jobs is a promise for the future. Currently, twenty-eight states have mandates generally requiring that 10 to 25 percent of their energy be obtained through renewable sources in a decade or two, thus forcing many companies to switch to the green sector. When looking at the current elections, environmental issues are key points on both sides of the political spectrum-with an increase in green-collar jobs promised by both candidates. If public policy continues to focus on sustainability, it has been predicted that 40 million new jobs could be created by 2030, making one in five jobs in the country some shade of green. Most of these jobs are and will be found in the renewable energy sector, as renewables tend to be more labor focused than fossil fuels which mostly uses production equipment. A study overseen by the Worldwatch Institute found that in the United States coal output rose by almost one third during the past two decades, yet employment has been cut in half. Alternatively, “currently about 2.3 million people worldwide work either directly in renewables or indirectly in supplier industries. The wind power industry employs some 300,000 people, the solar photovoltaics (PV) sector accounts for an estimated 170,000 jobs, and the solar thermal industry, at least 624,000. More than 1 million jobs are found in the biomass and biofuels sector. Small-scale hydropower and geothermal energy are far smaller employers.”² The expansion of green-collar jobs will also force other aspects of our economy to be more sustainable, for example the transportation and building sectors.

Greening our job market seems like a good answer to many of our current environmental concerns, but for some it seems like an opportunity only attainable for an elite minority. It is true that many of the new green-collar jobs require a specialized degree or a formal education but many professionals within the movement find this time as a great opportunity to solve both our economic and environmental crisis. One such pioneer is Van Jones, a civil rights and environmental advocate in Oakland, California, working to combine solutions to social inequality and environmental justice. He created Green For All (http://www.greenforall.org/), “a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating for local, state and federal commitment to job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy – especially for people from disadvantaged communities – Green For All fights both poverty and pollution at the same time.” Also in Oakland, the Ella Baker Center (working for human rights) recently persuaded the city government to invest $250,000 in a Green Jobs Corps. The Corps' three-month program will be the first of its kind in the country, training 40 to 50 city residents with barriers to employment for jobs in renewable energy and efficiency. In many ways, the rise in green-collar jobs can be considered a two-for-one: more jobs while saving the environment.

For more information and resources on finding jobs in the green sector, check out the Greeniac article, Green Careers, http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Green_Careers.

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¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/business/businessspecial2/26collar.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=businessspecial2&adxnnlx=1222190752-GKRTHoGDE5L9FeTGfEiwZQ

² http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5821




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