GreenYour.com

If you're not independently wealthy and count yourself among the almost 154 million who make up the US's civilian labor force,[1] you probably need a job to earn a living. Whether you're looking for your first or 15th job, or are contemplating a career switch, you may want to consider a green job to put greenbacks in your bank account and help the environment. As the tide of environmental awareness and concern (kudos, Al Gore) continues to rise, it appears that a green job boom may be gathering strength as well. According to the American Solar Energy Society, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies (RE&EE) created 8.5 million new jobs in 2006 and could generate an additional 40 million jobs by 2030.[2]

What is a green job?

There's no formal definition of the term "green job" so it's difficult to determine how many people have one.[3] The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says that in 2005, more than 5.3 million people in the US worked for the environmental industry but they didn't categorize those numbers.[4] Do you qualify if you're a cashier at a natural foods store? How about an engineer who works to improve energy efficiency at a nuclear power plant? What if you're an accountant at a biofuels start-up company or a bike messenger? Kevin Doyle, Founder of Green Economy in Watertown, Massachusetts, points out that 20 years ago environmental jobs were easy to identify: park rangers, wildlife biologists, foresters, marine ecologists, certain engineers, wastewater technicians, geologists, land-use planners, sanitarians, and a few specialty lawyers.[5] Now the boundaries are being stretched and are expanding into many facets of business strategy and operations including product design, purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, sales, public relations, investor relations, facility management, and human resources.[6]

Brand new industries and professions are emerging such as emissions trading verifiers, who validate the greenhouse gas reduction credits being offered for trade by one company to others;[7] sustainability coordinators, who manage an organization's environmental and business efforts; and bio-mimicry engineers, who recreate nature's designs and processes and apply them to human problems.[8][9] So, however you define—or don't define—green jobs, it's a supercharged field. And though jobs will also be lost if the world moves away from fossil fuels, a report commissioned by the UNEP said that worldwide, new green jobs created will slightly exceed layoffs elsewhere in the economy.[10]

Lighting the fire

Why is the time so ripe to start an eco-career? To be sure, public concern over the environment (since 2002, Gallup polls have shown substantial increases in the public's belief that the environment needs more attention)[11] sways the business world's move toward green, as does the fairly novel notion that green business can be a moneymaker.[12] But like it or not, the big "C"—climate change—deserves much of the credit for the proliferation of green biz. In anticipation of increasingly tighter regulations and caps on carbon emissions[13] and as a way to boost profits, companies are investing heavily in cleaner energy. Tyson Foods and ConocoPhillips recently joined in a venture to make diesel fuel from chicken fat.[9] Worldwide, investment in renewable power generation, biofuels, and low-carbon technologies more than doubled in two years, going from $28 billion in 2004 to $71 billion in 2006.[14]

Opportunities for all

While there are eco-career prospects a plenty for those in management positions, there's a strong movement percolating to ensure that those without sheepskins aren't left in the dust. This push has recently been galvanized by a piece of legislation tucked into the 2007 Energy Bill that was signed into law by President Bush in December 2007. The Green Jobs Act allocates $125 million annually for green job training programs nationwide and, of that sum, $25 million goes to create "green pathways out of poverty," which will provide job training for low-income people in fields like green construction and solar power installation. Another $80 million is slated for green job re-training that would, for instance, give traditional construction workers the skills to get hired for green building projects.[15] The US Department of Energy (DOE) is due to have an energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program ready by June 2008.[16]

The buzzwords "green collar jobs," meaning blue collar jobs in green businesses,[17] are taking on real meaning in a number of cities with green job training programs already in place. One of the most visible organizations associated with this movement is the Oakland, California-based Green For All, which secured a quarter million dollars of funding for the Oakland Green Collar Job Corps, a job-training program that they hope can serve as a nationwide model. The charismatic Yale-educated lawyer and founder of Green For All, Van Jones, brings the message home saying, "Polar bears, Priuses and PhD.s aren't going to do it alone... Give the work that most needs to be done to the people who most need the work and solve two pressing problems—pollution and poverty—at once."[18]

Farmers, ranchers, and those in rural areas may also expect to gain from the green job boom since their land could support wind, bioenergy, and solar power. Farmers in Chariton Valley, Iowa have planted more than 4,000 acres of switch-grass to fuel a nearby power plant with plans to dramatically scale up production.[19]

Nontraditional partnerships are also helping to forge the idea that jobs and the environment can coexist symbiotically, as evidenced by the Blue-Green Alliance between the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club. The partnership focuses on reducing toxics, fair trade, and clean energy, while simultaneously promoting jobs and training in these areas.[20]

Other actions

If a green career is not in your immediate future you can still make a positive eco-contribution by working for an employer with solid environmentally sustainable practices. Or consider forming an employee-run green team if your company's environmental IQ needs to be raised. You can also help by reducing your work-related carbon footprint by limiting your solo commute time and by cutting back on air and car travel associated with your job. Even David Beckham could give this last idea a try since his air travel between soccer games was one ingredient that pegged him as having the world's largest carbon footprint.[21]

External links

• Apollo Alliance The Apollo Alliance is working to speed investment in clean energy technology and energy efficiency, and put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of well-paid, green collar jobs.
• GreenBiz.com - Hot Topics: Green Careers
• Forbes.com - For Job Market, Green Means Growth Also check out accompanying Slide Show: Green Jobs With Growth Potential
• US Bureau of Labor, Department of Labor Statistics - Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2008-09 Edition
• US Bureau of Labor, Department of Labor Statistics - Career Guide to Industries (CGI), 2008-09 Edition
• SustainableBusiness.com