Where Are All the Clean, Green Jobs?

The promise of the green economy and the clean-tech revolution is that they will bring a new wave of job opportunities — productive and respectable jobs at every part of the economic spectrum, from line workers to senior managers. Nonprofit groups like the Apollo Alliance have made this part of their raison d'etre.  A steady drumbeat of studies since the late 1990s has told us that burgeoning markets for solar, wind, clean transportation, and other technologies would represent the next big wave of job creation. Cities and states have been positioning to become clean-tech hubs, eyeing the workforce development potential. Organizations representing low-income populations have been viewing the green economy as an entry point for those near the bottom of the economic ladder.

So, now that clean technology and the greening of business seem to be in full swing, where are all the jobs? So far, they're nowhere in sight — at least not in any appreciable numbers.

The reasons are many and varied. Most of the big companies in the clean-energy business — the BPs, GE, and PG&E's of the world — don't seem to be going on hiring sprees, typically creating clean-tech business units from within. So, too, with much of the green business activity — it has to do with efficiency, with doing more with the same or fewer resources, and that includes human resources. Few of the start-ups are undergoing massive hiring, and when they do, they're more often in the market for engineers and other skilled professionals. And the jobs that are being created are disperse, geographically, meaning that there are few robust Silicon Valley-like clean-tech clusters, where companies congregate and jobs proliferate.

Despite such obstacles, there seems to be new energy building behind the notion of a Big Green Job Machine. Last week in Pittsburgh, for example, a Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference, organized by the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers union, drew more than 900 people from business, government, nonprofits, academe, and labor unions to share strategies for increasing job opportunities in the environmental and clean-tech sectors.

There were about 8 million green jobs in the U.S. in industries that attracted $148 million in investment in 2007, up 60 percent from the year before, Lois Quam, managing director of alternative investments at Piper Jaffray, told the conference. I haven't yet seen the research on which this was based, but I'm intrigued. As I noted in our State of Green Business report, tracking green job creation has been difficult. One reason is that green jobs, at least by my definition, aren't often identified as such, and can be found throughout companies of all sizes and sectors. Does a procurement manager — whose job entails implementing her company's environmentally preferable procurement mandate, thereby seeking out and purchasing millions of dollars a year of recycled, energy-efficient, and other green products — count as a "green job"? What about the loading dock laborer whose job it is to make sure all packaging materials are recycled? Or the facility manager working to replace maintenance staples with green cleaning products? Are these counted among the "green jobs"? Possibly, but I doubt it.

Fact is, there's no good definition of "green job." Consider this report, released last week, by Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes, professor of urban studies at San Francisco State University. Titled Green Collar Jobs: An Analysis of the Capacity of Green Businesses to Provide High Quality Jobs for Men and Women with Barriers to Employment (Download - pdf), it focuses on opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to Pinderhughes,

Green collar jobs are blue collar jobs in green businesses — that is, manual labor jobs in businesses whose products and services directly improve environmental quality. . . . What unites these jobs is that all of them are associated with manual labor work that directly improves environmental quality.

Pinderhughes lists 22 types of green collar jobs, from food production (using organic and/or sustainably grown agricultural products) to furniture making (from environmentally certified and recycled wood), from parks and open space (maintenance and expansion) to printing (with non-toxic inks and dyes and recycled papers). It's a good list, but it doesn't seem to cover all that's out there.

Another report, Green-Collar Jobs in America's Cities (download - pdf), released for the Pittsburgh event, lays out steps for creating comprehensive green-collar job strategies at the local level. It also profiles some of the great work already underway around the country. The guide — published by Green For All, the Apollo Alliance, the Center for American Progress, and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy — focuses on local green jobs in clean energy industries: energy efficiency, renewable energy, alternative transportation, and low-carbon fuels.

Yet another new report, Greener Pathways, from the same consortium, profiles some of the best examples in the U.S. 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. 

It's all very encouraging, but it feels like there's one key group that's not yet at the table: companies. A look at the impressive speaker roster for the Pittsburgh event reveals only eight of 86 speakers from the private sector — and only three large companies: BP, Gamesa, and Johnson Controls.

Why aren't bigger companies more engaged? Do they not foresee a need for talent in this arena? Are their labor pools overflowing? Or are they simply not tuned in to the opportunity? Any ideas?

For now, groups like the Apollo Alliance and Green for All will have to go it alone, and they have their work cut out for them, helping to ensure, in the words of Green for All founder and president, Van Jones, that "the clean-tech wave lifts all boats." It won't be easy, especially without the active participation of companies in the clean and green sector.

As Jones told me recently: "The next set of challenges have to do with going from rhetoric to reality."

Comments

[Bill Dunnington]

I wish I had been able to attend the Pittsburgh conference. Joel's reflections and remarks make me wonder if there aren't likely to be several overlapping dynamics in play with respect to job creation:
1) as Joel mentions, a contraction of sorts, as reduce, reuse, recycle activities take hold - and also later if/as consumption patterns downshift;
2) the hoped-for expansion of sorts, where new clean tech investments scale into new jobs as clean tech companies come to market;
3) a net holding pattern, where people learn greener habits and practices as part of doing their daily work, rather than relying on additonal green experts and specialists.

[Kara C.]

I'd like to offer a personal comment that a discussion about "green jobs" isn't complete without including the category of jobs in the water and wastewater industry. People who are certified operators for running either water plants or wastewater plants play an absolutely vital role in our environment's health. Thanks to their work and dedication, when you turn on your faucet you immediately get safe drinking water. When you flush your toilet, all sewage is taken away and treated to ensure that our public lands and waterways keep clean. As our world's precious water supplies become more threatened -- whether due to drought or increasing population -- it is essential to have people who can help communities efficiently and effectively use their water resources. I work for a company called CH2M HILL OMI, and we do see a need for more talent in this area, and we are always recruiting for certified operators and operators-in-training (www.ch2mhill.jobs/omi). Educational requirements vary by each state, but people who are interested in beginning to work in this field generally need a high-school degree or equivalent plus two years of college credit or equivalent, and they must pass a state exam to achieve certification. Just Google "how to become a wastewater operator" and you'll find a wealth of information as well as links to accredited two-year programs in water/wastewater technology.

[Adrian]

Hey just stopping by to get my dose of green info. Always good stuff here! I am trying to compile a list of stuff I can do to reduce my carbon emissions. MTV had a commercial about it, and got me interested. I have been to www.earthlab.com and they have a ton of tips but I was mostly impressed by their page where they have their users send in tips: http://www.earthlab.com/life/tips.aspx Does anyone else know of other data bases that I can find these types of small things that lower my emissions? EPA or WWF maybe?

Thanks for all your info and drop me a link if you guys see anything worth my time.

[Mark W. McElroy]

Joel:

Shouldn't you be critiqing the ambiguity of the term "green" before you use it in your analyses? What is a "green job", anyway? And what is the "green economy", for that matter? If a company uses 1 percent less energy this year than last, is it green? Or must it be 10 or 20 percent before that designation comes into play?

Moreover, what makes a product green? Less toxicity this time around than last? If a company produces a less toxic product relative to its competitors, but consumes more energy and materials in order to do so, is it "green"?

I really don't understand why you don't rise above all this nonsense and call for some clarity and reason around the terms you're using and the concepts that lie behind them. You could start by demanding a clear explanation for what everyone purports to mean when they use the term "green".

Regards,

Mark

[Danna]

We need local companies that can do home and business energy audits as well as contractors that can install the needed insulation, windows, solar panels, wind generators, geo-thermal units, high efficient water heaters, etc., recommended by such audits. If each city and it's surrounding region had these local companies get started through a city govt policy encouraging them, lots of jobs would be created. There could also be companies that install water catchment systems and the water sterilizing equipment needed. Perhaps companies that use whole systems analysis and create systems for govt and commercial buildings that maximize energy effeciency, water conservation and recycling and renewable energy systems as well as natural edible landscaping.

Sustainablilty analysis organizations could also employ specially trained individuals as consultants and as intsallers, etc.

Danna

[Danna]

We need local farmers trained in small scale bio-mass energy conversion as well.

[Ryan Jones]

Joel,
Am loving your blog. I have put you up on my blogroll at www.m-cause.com

Best,
Ryan

[Mark W. McElroy]

Still waiting for Joel's definition of 'green' and -- most importantly -- his explanation for why we should embrace it instead of 'sustainability'. Isn't 'green' just 'unsustainability in slow motion'?

Mark

[Will O'Neill]

I agree with Mark that this article should have been written with sustainability-related jobs in mind. To think that an abundance of jobs are being created with the sole purpose of being "green" (which I basically think is a marketing term) is far fetched. Rather, we should be looking at growth in regards to sustainability. Indeed, a number of companies have created positions with this purpose in mind and I'm sure they encompass what many would consider "green" issues as well as broader issues such as the social impact of their respective companies.

Additionally, I am curious as to the extent that these sustainability focused jobs are going to offset the job losses caused by shifting business consciousness. Whenever a company makes a decision to pursue environmentally-friendly or socially rightous options they could potentially be eliminating a lot of jobs. I just think this is something that may often get overlooked.

[Nick Ellis]

One of many places to find green jobs: Bright Green Talent. Realistically, believe they are everywhere, and thankfully so!

[Mama]

The green jobs need to be in alternative energy. Here in Appalachia, people are dying because of coal, there is no such thing as "clean coal". We need green and sustainable jobs here for this community that has been raped of livelihood for decades. Employ them in wind power projects, geo thermal projects, and other alternative energy endeavors. That will be sustainable. That will be green.

[Clando Brownlee]

Would like to advocate for green jobs creation for youth need some support here in San Diego Thank's

Clando 619-321-7698

[Steve]

i would also like to advocate for green job creations in australia for our youth funding and helping source from http://www.jobr.com.au

Warm Regards

Steve Sony

[Atlanta Maid Service]

Green jobs is the new slogan being thrown around. My Atlanta Maid Service company sponsored me to attend a solar power convention last October '08. Let me tell you, this is one cat that is not easy to skin. There are two major obstacles, most importantly, demand. The progressive states have it, the conservative ones don't. Unless legislation provides incentives to make it economically feasable, there isn't going to be movement, at least fast enough to create a green wave. On top of the demand problem, lies the problem of technical ability. Green jobs are tough, they not only require the skillset of being self employed such as sales, marketing, accounting etc. They require electrical, plumbing, construction and the patience to fight the government with regulations. Not that following regulations are bad, it is just that ambiguity runs rampant one zoning and licensing issues from time to time. One inspector may approve, another may not. In the end, this is going to take some time. Unless economic necessity drives it, the theory will continue to sound interesting, but not much real action will take place.