Green Works

New Reports on Green Collar Jobs Give Cities, States Path to Clean Energy Economy

PITTSBURGH – A coalition of non-profit environmental and economic research organizations from across the country today released a first-of-its kind guide to cities to enhance one critical component of America’s shared prosperity: Training and employing people for the higher wage, family-supporting careers in the new clean, green, energy efficient job sectors.

The new guide, “Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities,” was accompanied by a similar study and plan of action for state policy makers, “Greener Pathways.” Both were made public today at the start of the two-day national Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in Pittsburgh.

The city and state guides recognize that with gathering momentum, many of the America’s largest cities and metropolitan regions are defying national trends in housing foreclosures, unemployment, and income stagnation, and instead have become new engines of job growth and prosperity. Underlying this remarkable transformation in the well-being of cities is an entirely new economic development strategy that is firmly based on being more efficient in using energy, being more sensitive to natural resources, more thoughtful about housing and transportation, and much smarter about developing businesses and jobs that meet the environmental conditions and market needs of the 21^st century.

According to both documents, a job qualifies as green-collar if it provides high enough wages and good benefits to support a family, opportunity to advance and build a career, and reduces waste, pollution, and other environmental risks. Among the green-collar jobs that are gaining in number and popularity, said the studies, are machinists, technicians, service workers, equipment and installation specialists, construction workers, and managers of all kinds.

The business sectors seeking such employees span alternative transportation and fuels, green building and energy efficient retrofitting, renewable energy production and installation, and hundreds of related industries and occupations.

“The movement to make American cities more sustainable, efficient and livable is perhaps the greatest new engine for urban economic growth, innovation, and job creation in decades,” said Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Apollo Alliance Board of Directors.

“A greener American economy can and will create jobs,” added Joel Rogers, Director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. “To make real progress one economic and workforce development in the new energy economy, we must focus more carefully on key clean energy sectors and seize the opportunities in leading industries, like: energy efficiency, wind, and biofuels.”

The city guide makes a strong case that pursuing a four-step strategy – essentially a metropolitan green business and jobs development plan – provides a wealth of environmental, economic, and social benefits, including what it calls “a pathway out of poverty” for thousands of unemployed, under-employed, and hard to employ people in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The report was prepared by the Apollo Alliance, Green For All, Center for American Progress and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

The state report, “Greener Pathways,” outlines a plan of action for state policy makers, highlighting reform opportunities to embrace the greener and more equitable promise of the new energy economy. It was prepared by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, the Workforce Alliance, and the Apollo Alliance.

“We can develop green-collar job initiatives that respond to the realities of local economies and communities while offering hope and opportunity to those who most need it,” said Van Jones, founder and president of Green For All. “We need bold and committed action, coupled with smart thinking, to simultaneously save the planet and reclaim the dream of an America we’ve always imagined.”

Progress on Green Collar Jobs in States
The state report, “Greener Pathways” profiles some of the best examples in the nation where work is underway to develop green jobs, including green construction career development in California, Iowa’s biofuels job-training bonds, wind technician training in Oregon; and Pennsylvania’s green re-industrialization.

“Greener Pathways” examines jobs in three key green industries:

– Energy efficiency may be the fastest, cheapest way for states to address global warming, reduce energy costs for citizens, and create and sustain good jobs. The report looks primarily at residential retrofits, one sector in a broader field that includes commercial and industrial retrofits, green building, and green manufacturing.

– Wind power is growing rapidly in the U.S. and abroad and has the potential to be an economic driver in urban and rural areas. Wind power has the capacity for job creation in manufacturing as well as installation and operations. Component part manufacturing for wind turbines holds
particular promise.

– Biofuels have taken root and are generating more policy interest and business investment, particularly in the Midwest. The report, while noting that biofuels may have significant environmental consequences, examines jobs in ethanol and biodiesel production.

Careers in Clean Energy Economy
The second study, “Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities,” is a first-of-its-kind guidance manual, was months in the making, and came at the request of a number of big city mayors. It recommends a four-step strategy to recruit, train, and place thousands of workers in the new service, maintenance, installation, technical, and construction jobs that employers are seeking.

“Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities” also includes 14 case studies of successful green-collar job training and placement projects in 11 communities on both coasts, the Midwest, and the South. The 21-page guide embraces the bottom-up, collaborative principles of public engagement, policy making, and economic development that distinguishes the 21^st century from the 20^th. In every case that the authors studied, cities convened broad and untraditional alliances to take the time necessary to meet, break down barriers and build trust, reach consensus on green collar development programs, and then pursue goals collaboratively. Moreover, the local programs were never intended to be massive, but instead are scaled to fit neighborhoods, the growing business sectors that settle in them, and tight public and private budgets.

Case Studies From Across the Country
Among the 14 green-collar job programs that the guide highlights are these:

Milwaukee, with the help of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, has organized a major project to retrofit residential, commercial, and institutional buildings in order to significantly reduce energy consumption. Milwaukee Energy Efficiency, or Me2, is raising both public and private capital to finance the retrofit work. Building occupants pay back the funds through charges on their utility bills, and they will realize immediate savings from reduced energy costs.

For more information: Joel Rogers; Director, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, 608-262-4266, jrogers@cows.org, http://www.cows.org/collab_projects_detail.asp?id=54

In Richmond, California, a non-profit group, Solar Richmond, forged a partnership with the city to provide low-cost and free installations of energy producing solar systems while simultaneously training low-income residents from the community to do the work. One of the project partners, Build Richmond, a city project, established a 10-week training program for construction and solar installation skills. Last year 32 residents completed the program and as of late last year, all but five program graduates were working for local solar and building companies.

For more information: Michele McGeoy, Director, 510-847-3172, info@SolarRichmond.org,
http://www.solarrichmond.org/

In Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian M. Fenty last September announced the start of a “Green Collar Job Advisory Council,” and has tapped the directors of four city agencies to play integral roles in the development of green jobs training policies. The central goals of Mayor Fenty’s effort are to develop the capacity of local businesses and workers to capitalize on opportunities opened by an array of new green policies and programs. Among them are 1) a new Green Building Law, 2) storm water management and green urban infrastructure policies, 3) a comprehensive energy policy that promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy installations, and 4) a city-wide commitment to reducing carbon emissions to fight climate change.

For more information: http://planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/
view,a,1282,q,642589.asp

Reasoned Four-Step Strategy: Assess, Enact, Train, Communicate
The process for establishing these and other green-collar development programs starts, said the guide, with research to understand local economic conditions, business strengths, and opportunities to develop green businesses and jobs. Los Angeles, for instance, developed a convening organization and published a comprehensive report in 2006, “Jobs in L.A.’s Green Technology Sector,” that identified green industries poised for growth and the ability of the community to fill jobs in those sectors. The report has served as guiding document in the city’s work to build a green jobs economy. See: http://www.economicrt.org/summaries/
Green_Tech_synopsis.html

“Green-Collar Jobs” also calls on cities to enact new policies and programs to stimulate demand for green businesses and jobs. Chicago and New York are among the growing number of cities that require municipal buildings to be retrofitted to improve energy efficiency, a step that encourages new opportunities for the construction trades, energy auditors, and other specialists.

The third step in the report’s strategy urges cities to develop training programs that take a special interest in providing job opportunities for low income residents. Especially significant in developing such training programs are building the skill set for jobs that actually exist or are on the way so that trainees have rewarding work when they finish.

And last is the report’s recommendation for leaders and participants to document their achievements and make sure the community knows of their successes. Americans love winners and good stories. Strong narratives of achievement galvanize communities, attract supporters, and strengthen the will of policy makers to improve, invest, and expand programs that work.

Read our report.