GREAT NEWS FOR GREEN JOBS NOW!

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Wusinich on November 10, 2008 at 7:16am

Horray for Newton! This plant shows there could be a light at the end of the tunnel for so many blue collar workers. I myself am a unemployed electrician who is looking for work. The union hall says all the jobs scheduled to start have lost funding, and what few jobs there will be are working in the oil refinery.

Philadelphia desperatly needs a green collar work place to help its non-working blue green collar workers.

Peace,

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Mary Ann on November 11, 2008 at 3:41am

Raleigh - Gov. Mike Easley announced today that PPG Industries FiberGlass Products Inc., a leading manufacturer of fiberglass reinforcements, plans to expand its facility in Shelby, investing $20.5 million and adding 120 jobs during the next three years. The expansion was made possible in part by a $300,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

http://media-newswire.com/release_1078497.htmlhttp://media-newswir...

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Permalink Reply by BG on November 11, 2008 at 3:51am

Pawlenty unveils new package of tax breaks

By PATRICIA LOPEZ, Star Tribune

November 10, 2008

Faced with a state in an economic downturn and a stream of job losses, Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Monday proposed what he called the "mother lode of tax breaks" to companies that create so-called green jobs in the burgeoning field of renewable energy.

The package includes a variation of Pawlenty's JOBZ economic development program, dubbed Green JOBZ, designed to attract investment in sustainable energy projects by offering exemptions from corporate franchise taxes, income tax for investors, capital gains tax and sales tax on goods and services.

"They would still pay the school levy," Pawlenty said, during a State Capitol news conference Monday, just before leaving for a state fly-around to promote the proposal.

Other elements would be aimed at small businesses and specific incentives to expand biomethane, solar and other forms of renewable energy.

The incentives, an initiative for the 2009 legislative session, would cost the state an estimated $3.65 million in 2010-11, nearly double that amount in 2012-13. Investors who pump money into regional investment funds could see tax credits of $20 million over four years, and another program would provide $60 million in tax incentives for insurance companies that put money in businesses with fewer than 100 employees, with at least half of them green businesses.

But, Pawlenty said, the payoff could be thousands of new jobs and a firm stake for Minnesota at the leading edge of the Green Revolution.

"If the economy continues in its awful state -- and it looks like it's going to for the foreseeable future -- it will be more important than ever to do things that will try to encourage investment in job growth in Minnesota," he said. "And for a very small investment in money, these proposals will do that."

DFL leaders in the state House and Senate said they welcomed Pawlenty's ideas and enthusiasm but were dubious about their effectiveness.

"We need new strategies right now," said Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul. "He's looking at three or four years from now."

Anderson accused Pawlenty of grandstanding, saying he unveiled his proposal at the same time that a joint legislative task force on green jobs, which includes his agency representatives, was meeting in north Minneapolis to develop a unified plan.

"Obviously, he's not real interested in working with the Legislature or even his own people," Anderson said.

Democrats now dominate the House and Senate and could heavily modify Pawlenty's proposals before allowing them to move forward.

Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, who leads the House Biosciences and Emerging Technologies Committee, said the state should also look at "wonderful" models other states have created, "some expensive, some inexpensive."

Mahoney said the state also should wait to see how the stimulus package being urged by President-elect Barack Obama may play out. "Let's look at how we can tweak existing programs before we jump onto any new bandwagons."

Anderson said the bipartisan task force, which was created in the last legislative session, expects to release a comprehensive plan for Minnesota's renewable energy industry in the coming months.

Brian McClung, Pawlenty's spokesman, said that "we're glad there's bipartisan interest in these initiatives. We think there's a lot of room for Minnesota to make progress in this area and we welcome legislative ideas."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Patricia Lopez • 651-222-1288

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Permalink Reply by Michael, Houston on November 12, 2008 at 12:15am

Please watch this great news video and thank you Konrad Roeder for sharing this!

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Permalink Reply by Michael, Houston on November 13, 2008 at 5:05am

By Shir Haberman
shaberman@seacoastonline.com
November 13, 2008 6:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH —President-elect Obama promised during his campaign to develop the economy of the future by creating over 5 million new, "green" jobs. His plan involved infusing about $150 billion over 10 years into areas in which those jobs can be developed.

Green job creation has also been discussed as part of the next federal economic stimulus package currently being worked on in Congress.

On Wednesday, University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics professor Ross Gittell, along with UNH MBA research scientist Matt Magnusson, discussed ways New Hampshire — and, specifically, Rockingham County — could leverage not only that money, but also the vast amount of work being done by communities and the university on sustainability, to create those green jobs locally.

Gittell and Magnusson made a public presentation at the Portsmouth Public Library titled, New Hampshire and Rockingham County's Green Economy: Current Employment and Future Opportunities. The event was sponsored by the Rockingham Economic Development Corporation and Portsmouth's Economic Development Commission and Committee on Sustainable Practices.

"This is a great opportunity to have a discussion about our green economy," Gittell told the audience in the packed Levenson Room. "We want to work together to create new opportunities around this new industry."

However, one of the difficulties in determining how to create green jobs is understanding exactly what a green job is, Gittell said.

"It's a hard thing to wrap your hands around," the UNH professor said. "There is no (federal or state) documentation about green industries. There are overlaps."

In some cases, Gittell's study made assumptions concerning what portion of those involved in a specific industry are doing work that impacts the environment. For example, Gittell looked at the federal figures on the number of people employed in the drywall and insulation installers category and considered about a third of them to be involved in work that directly impacts the environment.

Ultimately, Gittell and his associates came up with five categories of green jobs: those dealing with increasing energy efficiency; those that provide environmental services, such as consultants and builders; those involved in green transportation; those creating and supplying renewable energy; and what he called "smart tech" jobs, those which develop and test green technologies.

Using those criteria, Gittell determined that there are about 3.6 million green jobs in the nation currently, accounting for 3.2 percent of U.S. workers. He also determined that those green jobs pay about 25 percent more than the average job.

In New Hampshire, there are about 17,000 jobs that could be called green. That accounts for the same percentage of workers within the state as within the country — 3.2 percent.

There are about 3,700 jobs that could be classified as green in Rockingham County, putting the county at the same 3.2-percent level as the state and the nation. The majority of green county jobs are in the smart tech category, with energy efficiency coming in a close second.

The number of jobs involved in renewables and transportation was negligible at both the state and county level, Gittell's study showed. Environmental services represented a larger portion of the state's and county's current green jobs — 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Gittell concluded that the number of green jobs in the state could grow to 40,000 by 2018, or just about 8 percent of the state's total jobs. That is the same percentage of workers currently employed in the financial services industry statewide, he said.

"Leveraging off the high-tech expertise that's available in this area makes us well-suited to increase the smart tech green jobs," Gittell said. "We should also be able to increase the jobs involved in providing energy efficiency related work just because of where we are located (the state's colder climate)."

What's needed to make this happen is a change in mind-set, coupled with changes in community college curriculums that train — and retrain —people to work in the coming green economy, the UNH professor said.

"We can't think in terms of what it will cost taxpayers in the next five or 10 years," he said. "We have to think long-term."

The other thing that is necessary is for people to come together and share their expertise. While the state Department of Resources and Economic Development Web site gives tips on energy efficiency and available grants and communities have sustainability committees and volunteer groups working on the issue, there has to be something that brings it all together in order to create the atmosphere — and utilize the funding — that will allow more green jobs to be created, Gittell said.

"It's nice to have all these Web sites, but we have to bring people together to meet face-to-face and exchange ideas," he said. "We need to develop an area that everyone is focused on and keep the momentum going."

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Permalink Reply by Mary Ann on November 13, 2008 at 8:59am

(Source: The Bakersfield Californian)By The Bakersfield Californian
Nov. 12--California leads the nation in the creation of "green jobs" -- employment tied to the emerging fields of alternative fuels and nonfossil energy production. That means California is a leader in environmental stewardship.

It also means the state is making sensible workforce decisions with realistic economic potential.

Energy policies that require cutbacks in greenhouse gas emissions, such as AB 32, the state's groundbreaking environmental law, will mandate energy-efficiency improvements that could mean 403,000 new jobs earning a cumulative payroll of $48 billion, according to UC-Berkeley researcher David Roland-Holst.

But California's energy policies won't merely bring hundreds of thousands of new jobs, Roland-Holst says. They will drive the economy in many unrelated but far-reaching ways, contributing another $76 billion in gross state product over 12 years.

That's an even more optimistic outlook than the governor's predictions. The state has said AB 32 could create 60,000 jobs, but Roland-Holst says that model fails to factor in the effect of innovations likely to result in secondary and tertiary jobs.

The difference is in resource reallocation: When people use less energy, they spend less on energy, and therefore have more money to spend on things like consumer products. The outcome: greater economic growth and job creation.

"If you can save money for households on their electricity bills," the study's author told the San Jose Mercury-News, "they will spend that money on more customary spending, like espresso drinks and haircuts."

Alternative energy production is a bandwagon the Central Valley should and has jumped on. The Kern County oil industry has already created a culture attuned to energy production, and the local, burgeoning wind industry has already stoked the appetite for innovation.

The first solar thermal power plant built in California in nearly two decades went online in Kern County earlier last month when a Palo Alto-based solar developer launched a 5-megawatt test facility about 10 miles north of Bakersfield.

Cal State Bakersfield has jumped into the fray with a new commitment to solar energy in the form of panels expected to produce 30 percent of the campus' needs, and Wasco State Prison is participating in a solar power project targeting six state prison facilities.

Statewide, three decades of emphasis on energy efficiency has already created 1.5 million jobs and $45 billion in payroll. Nationally, the incoming Obama administration seems likely to be supportive of alternative energy innovation.

AB 32, enacted two years ago, requires the state to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It emphasizes energy efficiency and renewable energy, and includes the establishment of a market to trade pollution credits.

Perhaps most important, it provides a model for the rest of the nation. As California goes, so goes the rest of the U.S. In an era of climate change and overreliance on foreign oil, the state's leadership is needed more than ever.

-----

To see more of The Bakersfield Californian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bakersfield.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Bakersfield Californian

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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Permalink Reply by Michael, Houston on November 13, 2008 at 9:05am

By Shir Haberman
shaberman@seacoastonline.com
November 13, 2008 6:00 AM
PORTSMOUTH —President-elect Obama promised during his campaign to develop the economy of the future by creating over 5 million new, "green" jobs. His plan involved infusing about $150 billion over 10 years into areas in which those jobs can be developed.

Green job creation has also been discussed as part of the next federal economic stimulus package currently being worked on in Congress.

On Wednesday, University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics professor Ross Gittell, along with UNH MBA research scientist Matt Magnusson, discussed ways New Hampshire — and, specifically, Rockingham County — could leverage not only that money, but also the vast amount of work being done by communities and the university on sustainability, to create those green jobs locally.

Gittell and Magnusson made a public presentation at the Portsmouth Public Library titled, New Hampshire and Rockingham County's Green Economy: Current Employment and Future Opportunities. The event was sponsored by the Rockingham Economic Development Corporation and Portsmouth's Economic Development Commission and Committee on Sustainable Practices.

"This is a great opportunity to have a discussion about our green economy," Gittell told the audience in the packed Levenson Room. "We want to work together to create new opportunities around this new industry."

However, one of the difficulties in determining how to create green jobs is understanding exactly what a green job is, Gittell said.

"It's a hard thing to wrap your hands around," the UNH professor said. "There is no (federal or state) documentation about green industries. There are overlaps."

In some cases, Gittell's study made assumptions concerning what portion of those involved in a specific industry are doing work that impacts the environment. For example, Gittell looked at the federal figures on the number of people employed in the drywall and insulation installers category and considered about a third of them to be involved in work that directly impacts the environment.

Ultimately, Gittell and his associates came up with five categories of green jobs: those dealing with increasing energy efficiency; those that provide environmental services, such as consultants and builders; those involved in green transportation; those creating and supplying renewable energy; and what he called "smart tech" jobs, those which develop and test green technologies.

Using those criteria, Gittell determined that there are about 3.6 million green jobs in the nation currently, accounting for 3.2 percent of U.S. workers. He also determined that those green jobs pay about 25 percent more than the average job.

In New Hampshire, there are about 17,000 jobs that could be called green. That accounts for the same percentage of workers within the state as within the country — 3.2 percent.

There are about 3,700 jobs that could be classified as green in Rockingham County, putting the county at the same 3.2-percent level as the state and the nation. The majority of green county jobs are in the smart tech category, with energy efficiency coming in a close second.

The number of jobs involved in renewables and transportation was negligible at both the state and county level, Gittell's study showed. Environmental services represented a larger portion of the state's and county's current green jobs — 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Gittell concluded that the number of green jobs in the state could grow to 40,000 by 2018, or just about 8 percent of the state's total jobs. That is the same percentage of workers currently employed in the financial services industry statewide, he said.

"Leveraging off the high-tech expertise that's available in this area makes us well-suited to increase the smart tech green jobs," Gittell said. "We should also be able to increase the jobs involved in providing energy efficiency related work just because of where we are located (the state's colder climate)."

What's needed to make this happen is a change in mind-set, coupled with changes in community college curriculums that train — and retrain —people to work in the coming green economy, the UNH professor said.

"We can't think in terms of what it will cost taxpayers in the next five or 10 years," he said. "We have to think long-term."

The other thing that is necessary is for people to come together and share their expertise. While the state Department of Resources and Economic Development Web site gives tips on energy efficiency and available grants and communities have sustainability committees and volunteer groups working on the issue, there has to be something that brings it all together in order to create the atmosphere — and utilize the funding — that will allow more green jobs to be created, Gittell said.

"It's nice to have all these Web sites, but we have to bring people together to meet face-to-face and exchange ideas," he said. "We need to develop an area that everyone is focused on and keep the momentum going."

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Permalink Reply by Michael, Houston on November 14, 2008 at 2:39am

Reply by Raymond Baran on November 10, 2008 at 5:32pm
I gave someone a job from the pickens Plan I met 8 weeks ago. This person is a veteran,disabled,and was at whits end. as we spoke I helped to give him direction as to start the study of solar. Proudly I can say he is working for us installing more solar,adding to our system and he will be installing more systems soon!! He is a true success story if I ever saw one ! My advise : HIRE OUR VETERANS FIRST as not only do they need work and have served our country but : MAN THE STORIES YOU WILL HEAR IS TOTALLY AMAZING!!! I never hesitate to just ASK about things. RAY

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Permalink Reply by Michael on November 14, 2008 at 3:01am

The Dalles is an ideal location for Google's "Project 02" -- the company's code name for its not-so-secret new data center. The 30-acre site in Oregon was chosen for its ready access to cheap electricity from the 1.8 million kilowatt hydroelectric dam just upriver, as well as cheap lands and an accommodating local government. The same factors influenced its purchase of 215 acres in Lenoir, N.C. earlier this year: cheap land, cheap energy and room to grow.

Google's recent land grab results from a sobering reality: Large server farms need voracious quantities of energy for their operations, and Google wants to do that in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. Despite the environmental impacts of dams, using renewable energy from an already-existing dam is the best alternative for a company with Google's energy needs and a credo of "Don't Be Evil."

"All else being equal, we would much prefer greener sources of power," said Bill Weihl, head of Energy Strategy at Google. But as he was quick to point out, Google's thirst for power must be balanced with its business realities - in this case the significant costs of its energy choices.

Part of Weihl's job is to take these costs into account, and in doing so he brings a wider view of the total cost of ownership to IT decisions.

"The [IT] industry has been driven by price and performance for 25 years, not as much by total cost, and certainly not by energy efficiency or environmental concerns," Weihl said. He believes that's begun to change in the last few years, in part due to Google's influence.

Google has embraced a wide range of environmentally friendly practices. Some of them, like the company's fleet of 32 Wi-fi-enabled, biodiesel-powered employee shuttle buses, are not options for many smaller companies. Other projects, like the 1.6-megawatt rooftop solar installation just being completed on Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, may pose daunting up-front costs, but will pay for themselves very quickly.

The True Cost of Ownership

Many of Google's green-IT initiatives are readily replicable by others. Weihl singled out a couple of ways that just about any business can quickly start reducing its IT costs and environmental impacts at the same time. For example, looking at total cost of ownership -- of large-scale purchases like solar power or smaller ones like server power supplies -- can bring long-term savings to a company.

Take power-supply efficiency. In the U.S., power comes out of the wall at 120 volts of alternating-current (AC) electricity. The computer's power supply converts that to lower voltages of direct-current (DC) electricity for use in other parts of the machine: from 1.25 to 12 volts for components like the disk drives, memory, processors and graphics cards.

The power supplies in most computer systems, Weihl said, are still being built to standards set in 1981, the year of the first IBM PC. But over the years, the voltage needs of computers have steadily shifted, and now computer power supplies must output energy in many different voltages to all these components -- like having four power supplies instead of one.

Last fall, at Intel's Developer Forum, Weihl and colleague Urs Höelzle presented a white paper on that topic. They explained that while the typical efficiency of personal computers and servers ranges from 50 to 70 percent, spending a little more per machine has enabled Google to make its servers as high as 92 percent efficient.

Weihl and Höelzle explained how the company has worked with its vendors to build servers that use only a 12V power supply. Voltage regulator modules on the motherboard do the conversions to lower voltages, eliminating the need for multiple power supplies.

Weihl said the changes Google has adopted in its servers are small and low-risk, and they're now working with Intel and other manufacturers to make these more-efficient power supplies available to the entire industry.

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Permalink Reply by Michael on November 15, 2008 at 5:47am

chicagotribune.com

Environmentalists tout green energy job potential

By RICK CALLAHAN

Associated Press Writer

3:48 PM CST, November 14, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS



Environmental activists invigorated by President-elect Barack Obama's push for the nation to generate more of its power from the wind and sun are trying to get the word out that Obama's initiative could bring thousands of new jobs to Indiana.

The Hoosier Environmental Council will hold a town hall-style meeting Saturday in Bedford with two state lawmakers to discuss the state's "green jobs" potential in coming years.

Obama has proposed spending $150 billion over 10 years to speed the development of plug-in hybrid cars and "commercial-scale" renewable power sources such as wind and solar.

Jesse Kharbanda, the executive director of the Indianapolis-based group, said the president-elect's goal of more aggressively pursuing renewable power sources will create thousands of new manufacturing, operations and maintenance jobs.

"The way we want to communicate this to the public is to remind them about the economic situation that we're in right now and then to talk to them about the very real potential for green jobs," he said.

A report released earlier this year by the Blue Green Alliance, a national group formed by the United Steelworkers union and the Sierra Club, concluded that Indiana should be able to create nearly 40,000 new jobs through wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power sources.

David Foster, the executive director of the Minneapolis-based national group, said those numbers are based on the assumption of a federal renewable electricity standard requiring that 15 percent of the nation's electricity come from renewable sources by 2020.

He said the report is "a very conservative measure" of the new jobs the state could see in the years ahead considering its large manufacturing base -- some of which could be retrofitted to produce parts such as gears and sheet metal for wind turbines.

"There's a huge opportunity for new jobs in Indiana," he said.

Kharbanda said Saturday's meeting, which he hopes draws up to about 100 people, is being held in Bedford to help spread the word to southern Indiana residents that renewable energy is already bringing jobs to the state and has a large untapped potential.

He said residents in northern Indiana, where large wind farms are already springing up, are familiar with jobs and development renewable energy can bring.

State Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, who will speak at Saturday's gathering, said auto parts makers in Lawrence County have been hit hard by the nation's economic downturn. But he said a Bedford company is already tapping into green jobs by making components for wind turbines.

He added, however, that while he and others are excited about renewable energy's potential they also want to be cautious not to commit too heavily to such power sources.

"Government has to be very careful when it embarks on the renewable energy standard that it is realistic and it doesn't become cost-prohibitive for the consumers in our state," Koch said.

State Rep. Kreg Battles, who will also speak at Saturday's gathering, said Indiana needs to capitalize on renewable energy.

"We can't sit on our hands. We need to be preparing for the future now," he said.

Battles, D-Vincennes, said a legislative panel he sits on was told over the summer that Indiana is forecast to face a 1,000-megawatt electricity shortfall by 2015.

Kharbanda said the state also needs to adopt energy-efficiency standards for commercial buildings. Kharbanda said doing so would cut electricity use by encouraging businesses to install energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, windows and other systems.

"Unfortunately, Indiana operates on a code that's about 50 years old for commercial buildings," he said.

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Permalink Reply by Michael, Houston on November 15, 2008 at 11:52am

Friday, November 14, 2008
Growing green jobs: Scope of ‘green-collar’ work increases faster than other sectors

Kansas City Business Journal - by Suzanna Stagemeyer Staff Writer


Dave Kaup | KCBJ
David Crawford, who helps disadvantaged workers find jobs, says he sees potential in “green” jobs. The founder of GreenKC helped Crossroads Church build a rain garden.
View Larger
David Crawford, who helps disadvantaged Kansas City-area workers find employment, sees boundless potential in an emerging category: green jobs.

The retired boilermaker, who has about 18 years’ experience as a vocation and career specialist, volunteers for the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity. About two months ago, Crawford founded a spinoff group focused on connecting applicants with green jobs. He calls the group GreenKC.

“There’s an enormous amount of energy-efficiency work that needs to be done in our region,” Crawford said. “There’s a work force that just has to be developed for these projects.”

The scope of so-called green-collar job opportunities stretches across industries, from labor positions to executive roles. Studies suggest that renewable energy industries alone could generate thousands of jobs, and local executives in those growing industries said they expect employment to jump in the coming years.

Berkeley Palmer, a career firm with offices in Overland Park, said in a statement that “green jobs have the potential of trending up at a faster pace than any other job sector” and that those opportunities will cross most industries.

Crawford said he sees an economic development opportunity for the city that could reach through to employ the unemployed. He plans to propose that GreenKC be included in efforts to find workers for the $2.3 billion sewer overhaul Kansas City plans. The project, which city officials want to include green components such as rain gardens, would offer jobs that required little training and that could be done in the workers’ neighborhoods, solving the transportation problem many disadvantaged workers face.

“If we do it correctly and take the high road and put these people that really need work onto this, we can put a lot of people to work that have been neglected — the disadvantaged, marginalized, disenfranchised people,” he said.

Development of a green-collar work force remains in the nascent stages, said Clyde McQueen, CEO of the Full Employment Council. Public policy probably will create a greater need for green-collar workers, and an area already promoting those skills gains an advantage.

“There’s an excellent market for whoever becomes environmentally astute in this green career thing,” he said. “We’ll need to build things, address water quality, power automobiles, reduce carbon emissions, create and generate plant life. It’s huge.”

Unions facing job losses look to green industry for opportunities for displaced workers.

Several hundred jobs are being cut at the American Airlines maintenance base in Kansas City. Gordon Clark, president of the Local 530 Transport Workers Union, said installation, repair and maintenance of renewable energy facilities are good options for the workers who can’t find jobs in the airline industry.

Maintenance base skills would translate particularly well to wind turbines, he said.

“I would think that with minimal training we would be able to adapt very quickly,” Clark said.

Rob Freeman, CEO of wind farm developer TradeWind Energy LLC, agreed that those skills, particularly among airline workers, correspond well.

“Those who already have manufacturing experience, while they might need some training in the unique aspects of operating a wind project, the experience they bring could be extremely valuable broadly speaking,” he said.

The wind energy industry has seen a significant uptick in U.S. manufacturing, bringing thousands of jobs, Freeman said. And wind farms require a few hundred construction workers during a year or so, then about 25 permanent positions. Studies indicate that future projects in Kansas alone could create thousands of jobs with a payroll of more than a billion dollars during the next few decades.

And the Lenexa-based company has generated jobs in other areas, as well. Two years ago, TradeWind had eight employees. Today, the company has 40 full-time workers and within the next year most likely will reach 50, not counting an estimated 50 outside consultants TradeWind has hired, Freeman said. Those jobs range from meteorologists, biologists, engineers of various types, legal consultants and others.

Phelps Murdock, CEO of nonprofit Bridging the Gap, is part of an effort among citizens and businesses to make the Kansas City area America’s Green Region through a culmination of efforts. As the movement grows, more workers will be needed to weatherize buildings, create rain gardens, do sustainable landscaping and other efforts, he said.

“I think we’re going to create a lot of jobs here by creating America’s Green Region,” Murdock said. “We’re going to need more people to do this if more companies and homes start wanting to be sustainable.”

Those who promote the idea of green-collar jobs also welcome the day when environmental concerns become so intertwined with business as usual that they’re no longer viewed as a unique category.

“I would like to think that eventually, sometime down the road in the future, we wouldn’t even need to think of jobs as being green-collar — that that would be a given as far as the type of work that needs to be done,” Crawford said.

Spurring jobs

As the economic meltdown spurs job losses, some suggest the nation try to recover by promoting green jobs. A September report proposed a $100 billion national green economic recovery program. The report suggests investments in retrofitting buildings, expanding mass transit and freight rail, building smart energy grids, and expanding production of renewable energy sources. The program would create an estimated 2 million jobs in two years, employing people such as sheet metal workers, machinists, truck drivers, roofers, insulators, building inspectors, engineers, electricians and many others.

Here’s how the study estimated Missouri could benefit from such a program:
• Investment from the national green economic recovery program: $1.8 billion
• Net job creation: 43,047 jobs
• EFFECT on unemployment rate: From 6 percent in June to 4.6 percent in two years

Here are the potential benefits for Kansas:
• Investment from the national green economic recovery program: $881 million
• Net job creation: 19,142 jobs
• EFFECT on unemployment rate: From 4.4 percent in June to
3.2 percent in two years

Source: Report for the Center for American Progress by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists

Green jobs:
• In 2006, there were 750,000 green jobs in the United States
• Over half of those jobs were in engineering, legal, research and consulting
• 85 percent of the jobs were located in metropolitan areas
Assuming that by 2038 40 percent of U.S.
electricity will come from alternative fuels, then:
• The economy will generate 4.2 million new green jobs by 2038.
• A 30-year project to retrofit existing residential and commercial building stock would generate 81,000 jobs.
Source: U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Center, 2008 Green Jobs Report

sstagemeyer@bizjournals.com | 816-421-5900

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Permalink Reply by Michael, Houston on November 15, 2008 at 10:36pm

November 14, 2008 09:40 AM EST (Updated: November 14, 2008 11:36 AM EST)
views: 46 | rating: 10/10 (1 vote) | comments: 3
Staubli, a Switzerland-based company, recently announced plans to create 30 to 50 new green manufacturing jobs in Duncan, South Carolina.

The jobs will be at a new manufacturing facility that will produce electrical systems for the solar power industry. Production is slated to begin by the middle of next year.

"Renewable energies are becoming increasingly important for the modern economy," the company stated in a new release published on its website.

Staubli describes itself as an international "mechatronics solution provider with three dedicated divisions: textile machinery, connectors and robotics." The company's headquarters is located in Pfäffikon, Switzerland.

The Green Jobs Report has been tracking the creation of new green manufacturing jobs by the wind and solar power industry since October 24, 2008. 6,390 new green jobs have reported to date.

David Anderson is a news and politics correspondent for Gather.com

Check out Solar Power for Your Home for Dummies, an easy to follow guide to integrating solar power into your own home!

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