In case you haven’t heard, green jobs are paying big nowadays. With the economic strife facing our country, there has been a trend to shift focus to the Green workforce in order to bump employment numbers, while at the same time addressing environmental concerns. Renewable energy, Green Building and Organic Agriculture are all areas of employment that are proposed as being the saviors of our economy and unemployment figures. Specific suggestions for creating jobs include an expanded public transportation system, creating tax and subsidy policies that favor green business, and all around integrating environmental goals with business procedures.
I think that tapping into the green workforce is a great idea for helping to improve our economy. The number of job opportunities working for the environment is huge, and keeps growing. The United States has over a million jobs in the recycling industry and 300,000 in the wind power industry alone. There is job potential in dealing with climate change problems including building flood barriers and rehabilitating wetlands.
Green jobs are only increasing in number. Labor unions see green jobs as replacing jobs lost to overseas manufacturing, states are mandating more energy come from alternative resources, and the American Solar Energy Society predicts the nation at having 8.5 million jobs in renewable energy.
The Center for American Progress released a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists that proposed a $100 billion dollar plan that over two years would create 2 million jobs that will in particular help out failing manufacturing and construction industries. Organizations like the Blue Green Alliance, an alliance of labor unions and environmental groups that seek to promote green employment, are advocating for this issue as well, seeing the potential good it could bring.
All in all, with the way seems to be going with the economy, investing in the green market seems like an industry that could really provide jobs, help the economy, and be part of a real solution. To say it’s the sole savior of our economic troubles would be too simple, but could it really hurt to try?
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