Green Jobs And Where To Find Them (PHOTOS)

Even though the U.S. unemployment rate remains high and job concerns are on the minds of many Americans, some sectors, including many green jobs, may have an optimistic future.

A recent study by the Brookings Institute found that the growth of green jobs may have even accelerated during the recent global recession, and industries "ranging from wind and solar energy to smart grid applications and professional energy services -- grew twice as fast as the rest of the economy.” However, according to HuffPost blogger Mark Muro, green jobs are still more of an “appropriate ambition than a large source of near-term employment.”

For environmental supporters and proponents of green-collar jobs, some of the expected budget cuts from the recently passed debt limit bill are alarming. The extent of cuts won't be decided until later this year, but the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department may lose funding to a number of their programs, reports The Week. Many worry what will happen to green industries if lawmakers “gut the EPA.” According to Ben Schreiber, a tax analyst with Friends of the Earth, “the clean-energy revolution" will become "a casualty of these cuts.”

Despite this, there are green jobs available and efforts are being taken to connect underprivileged jobseekers with them. California currently leads the nation in green jobs with over 300,000 currently employed in green industries.

There is little question that green jobs do exist, but it is still unclear what actually constitutes a green job. According to TIME, this ambiguity means that “advocates on both sides of the issue can run wild.”

For workers who hold one of America's 2.7 million “clean” jobs, their paychecks may be larger than those in other sectors, a Brookings study recent found. For those looking to become a part of the emerging green economy, check out this list of some green jobs and online resources that could help you find them:

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Solar Power

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With recent scientific breakthroughs in solar panels and rising public awareness, the solar industry is growing rapidly, according to SustainableBusiness.com. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar energy accounted for only one percent of renewable energy consumption in the U.S. in 2010, "despite growing rapidly at an average annual rate of 12 percent."

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With recent scientific breakthroughs in solar panels and rising public awareness, the solar industry is growing rapidly, according to SustainableBusiness.com. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar energy accounted for only one percent of renewable energy consumption in the U.S. in 2010, "despite growing rapidly at an average annual rate of 12 percent."

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Want to see more? Check out this Fast Company map to see where many of the nation's green jobs are located.

Comments

[OLJW00]

12:06 AM on 08/18/2011

The concept of "green jobs" sounds good....it's the actual reality of creating (or keeping) them that seems to be the problem.

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/08/17/theres-nothing-new-about-green-jobs/

[Heather Krasna]

11:59 PM on 08/10/2011

An additional great list of resources for researching target organizations to work for, including government and nonprofit green jobs, can be found at http://jobmob.co.il/blog/research-companies-usa/

[Eco20-20]

01:08 PM on 08/10/2011

On slide three, there is an incorrect attribution. Slide says Green Career Guides and should read "Green Careers Guide"

[Genders]

01:59 AM on 08/09/2011

Solar 12% per year? That's sound way low, like maybe it's the dollar value of the industry, not the growth in installed power from solar, which is more like 40-60% per year and because of lower costs, the businesses grow slower.

[Genders]

02:05 AM on 08/09/2011

In fact pv solar watts installed doubled last year. http://www.seia.org/galleries/pdf/SMI-YIR-2010-ES.pdf
and is projected to grow incredibly fast.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/solar_power_industry_growing.php

From 1% to over 100% is only 7 doubling, 7 years. 12% really underrepresents that. Why?

[breakingpoint]

02:50 PM on 08/08/2011

need a green union

[LMPE]

09:01 PM on 08/07/2011

It seems like the Sahara could power all of Africa and Europe.

[Genders]

03:37 AM on 08/09/2011

only 3% of it would be needed, but rooftops are a better starting point.

[Robert Fanney]

05:44 PM on 08/07/2011

More jobs oil-lobby backed republicans want to kill. These green jobs are more work intensive and require more labor. In all, solar and wind power would result in more Americans working on what would be a vital, renewable and serviceable infrastructure.

[OLJW00]

12:07 AM on 08/18/2011

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/08/17/theres-nothing-new-about-green-jobs/

Read this and get back to me...

[Amminadab]

04:40 PM on 08/07/2011

4090 record high temperatures set in the US this year.

268 record high temperatures set in the US this month.

44 record high temperatures set in the US just yesterday.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/08/is-this-record-breaking-record-breaking-heat.html

[Robert Fanney]

05:46 PM on 08/07/2011

Arctic Ice Melt competing with 2007 for record:

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/NEWIMAGES/arctic.seaice.color.003.png

[OLJW00]

12:13 AM on 08/18/2011

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=14176759

You NEED to check this out..

[OcotilloKid]

11:26 AM on 08/07/2011

"it is still unclear what actually constitutes a green job"

Green Job: A position in an industry that must be subsidised by taxpayer funding and will continue to show a net loss profit margin in the forseeable future.

[fds]

01:08 PM on 08/07/2011

I see you are also in the category of people who are still uncertain about what actually constitutes a green job.

[Robert Fanney]

05:47 PM on 08/07/2011

Cost of new solar energy now less than new nuclear...

[Dragula Returns]

01:11 AM on 08/07/2011

Why is it O.K. to subsidize green energy? If it's so good, it shouldn't need any incentive.

[WESmith]

01:17 AM on 08/07/2011

It's good, but no one is interested in green energy. We went through this in the 80s. Eventually millions of people lost their jobs and homes when Reagan dropped the alternative energy subsidies. Now we are even more addicted to foreign oil.

[LATEACHER1X]

06:30 PM on 08/07/2011

True for now. But in 10-20 years, I predict that green energy and environmental protection will be paramount to survival. Environmental science should be the focus in schools instead of those ridiculous standardized tests

[BJohnson]

09:46 AM on 08/07/2011

Glad you asked.

"Externalities" don't affect the market price/competitiveness of green energy but matter greatly to the United States (and the world.) It's a vital U.S. interest to catalyze the growth of green energy.

GLOBAL WARMING
* To the extent we can reduce global warming, we must act. It's reprehensible to receive a beautiful world and pass on a broken one.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
* Less money for autocratic regimes.
* Less need for military "protection".

JOBS
* The U.S. is blessed with low interest rates and extensive extra labor capacity. Capital investments now will benefit our economy and society for decades to come.

MASS PRODUCTION LOWERS COST
* Emerging industries need "demand" to accelerate/accomplish reaching "break-even", volumes of scale. Existing industries naturally take action to minimize such threats. In the face of such persuasiveness, amassing the public interest through governmental action is necessary.

REDUCE POLLUTION
* Generally speaking, green energy pollutes less than traditional fossil fuel sources.
http://treeandeducation.blogspot.com/2011/02/pollution-free-energy-sources.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_development

TRADE DEFICIT
* Roughly speaking, if the U.S. spends $50B/month for foreign oil, without exporting the same amount (ha!), we increase the trade deficit by more than Half A Trillion dollars ($500B) per year. Extra dollars sloshing around overseas come home in the form of increased foreign ownership of US interests. For other perspectives, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_trade
http://www.frbsf.org/education/activities/drecon/2007/0706.html