Green Job Creation

As the economy continues to stagnate, the focus on creating "green jobs" grows.  Politicians, environmentalists and executives tout the importance of the nascent clean energy economy in replacing the tens of thousands of jobs lost in suffering industries like auto manufacturing.   Laid-off workers are enrolling in new green job banks and registering for green job training programs 1,2.  And state, local and federal governments are pouring billions into driving green job growth -- despite skepticism in some quarters that green jobs are a lot of hype, not the next cornerstone of the American economy.

The difficulty of settling on a single definition of a green job has made it hard to determine how many green jobs exist and the potential for future growth.

Watch Videos of Experts Discussing the Green Economy

Green Job Creation

One of the biggest drivers of green job growth is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocates $500 million to green-jobs training programs3, and billions more to create jobs in green technology industries. The number of jobs the stimulus package will create is unclear, in part because of the lack of a single definition of "green jobs. And there is broad disagreement over how much money the stimulus package actually puts toward green initiatives which could create these jobs. The total ranges from $50 billion4 to more than $110 billion5, depending on which interest group or news organization is counting.  Grist, an online environmental magazine, puts the number at $82.2 billion, including $62.2 billion in "direct spending" and $20 billion in tax incentives6.

State and local government programs and private investment are playing a significant role in green job creation. Even though venture capital funding for green technology has slowed recently, it has shrunk less than other economic sectors.  Environmentally friendly technologies, also called green technologies, clean technologies or "cleantech," was the largest venture capital category in the country in the third quarter of 20097,8,9. Utilities are driving green job growth10,11,12, spurred by state initiatives requiring the addition of renewable sources to their energy mix. Corporations13 are also involved. Wal-Mart Stores, for example, last year formed its Green Jobs Council14 to try to create green jobs with its suppliers and has awarded several grants to increase green jobs15. And oil companies, such as ExxonMobil, are making big investments in biofuels16.

Current Employment

With no single definition of a green job, finding reliable government data on green jobs has been difficult.  A 2008 Global Insight study estimated that the United States had more than 750,000 green jobs in 2006, with approximately 127,000 of these in renewable power generation, 57,500 jobs in agriculture and forestry and 8,700 in construction and systems installation17.

U.S. Green Jobs by Category18

Future Growth

Green jobs 'could be the fastest-growing segment of the United States economy over the next several decades,' according to the Global Insight study, which forecast the creation of more than 4.2 million green jobs by 203819. A 2009 study by the American Solar Energy Society predicted that renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industry jobs could grow by more than 16.3 million by 2030, depending on government policies, oil and gas prices and other factors20.

Many groups predicted a rise in green jobs even before the stimulus. A United Nations report estimated that in 2006, more than 2.3 million renewable energy jobs (including biofuels), 4 million energy efficiency jobs (including green building and construction), 250,000 jobs in green vehicle manufacturing, more than 1.3 million jobs in public transportation and more than 15 million jobs in recycling were created, as well as an unknowable number  of jobs in agriculture, forestry and raw-materials manufacturing21.  Another U.N. paper in 2008 projected the number of jobs could surpass 20 million, including agricultural and industrial biofuel-related jobs, by 2030.22.

Stimulus Package Growth

Estimates on how many green jobs the stimulus will create vary widely. President Barack Obama has set a goal of creating and saving 3.5 million jobs in all fields through the package23. Christina Romer, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, the vice president's chief economist, say it could create or save nearly 3.7 million jobs24.  As for green jobs, Environment America estimates the stimulus will create 1.5 million25, while the Apollo Alliance, a green jobs advocacy group, estimates the creation of "over 1.6 million" jobs26. Obama plans to create 5 million green jobs over 10 years. 27

Meanwhile, some question whether the stimulus will really add to the total number of U.S. jobs at all. A study by Spanish researchers found that the package could end up cutting two jobs for every one it creates in the United States because of higher energy prices.28

Companies, politicians and government agencies have a vested interest in announcing jobs saved and created, especially those funded by the stimulus package. Because there's no way to independently measure the number of green jobs that are saved, industry insiders such as Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, have urged caution in reporting on these claims.

It's also difficult to evaluate the net number of jobs actually being added, as no agencies currently compile the number of layoffs specifically in green businesses. Other claims deserving of critical analysis include characterizations about the types of jobs that are being created. Not all green jobs are necessarily good jobs. Studies from Good Jobs First and by U.S. Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo.) warned that many green jobs pay low wages, in some cases as low as $13 per hour for manufacturing jobs, and forecast that policies meant to stimulate green jobs could end up removing better-paying jobs that exist today. 

Data and Reports

• State of Green Business  (GreenBiz.com)
• Green Recovery (Political Economic Research Institute and Center for American Progress)

References

1. 1. Clean Tech Training for All. (8 September 2009). Triplepundit. http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/09/clean-tech-training-for-all/comment-...
2. 2. David A Kates (2 May 2008). "Green Education for Green Jobs". AlternativeEnergy.com. http://www.alternativeenergy.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1066929%3ABlogPos...
3. 3. Jessica Fender (26 May 2009). "$500 million in green jobs training announced at Biden event". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/greenbusiness/ci_12453837. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
4. 4. "Stimulus Effect on Green Energy & Green Jobs". (13 February 2009). 24/7 Wall Street. http://247wallst.com/2009/02/13/stimulus-effect-on-green-energy-green-jo.... Retrieved 3 October 2009.
5. 5. Elena Foshay and Keither Schneider (13 February 2009). "Congress Approves Clean Energy Provisions of Stimulus; Consistent With Apollo Economic Recovery Act". Apollo Alliance. http://apolloalliance.org/feature-articles/clean-energy-provisions-of-st.... Retrieved 30 September 2009.
6. 6. "A Green-Tinged Stimulus Bill: The economic-recovery bill includes green funding and drops nuclear and coal subsidies". (12 February 2009). Grist. http://www.grist.org/article/A-green-tinged-stimulus-bill/. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
7. 7. "Clean technology venture investment continued recovering in 3Q09 spurred by economic stimulus investment". (1 October 2009). Cleantech Group. http://cleantech.com/about/pressreleases/20090930.cfm. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
8. 8. Eric Wesoff (29 September 2009). "Venture Capital in Greentech Back with a Vengeance". Greentech Media. http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/venture-capital-in-greent.... Retrieved 1 October 2009.
9. 9. Katie Fehrenbacher (30 September 2009). "Rebound!: Cleantech Becomes the Largest Venture Sector". Earth2Tech. http://earth2tech.com/2009/09/30/rebound-cleantech-becomes-the-largest-v....
10. 10. Eric Dorente (29 May 2009). "Top 10 US utilities in solar power named; SEPA sees trend". EcoSeed. http://www.ecoseed.org/index.php/en/general-news/features/in-depth/2435-.... Retrieved 3 October 2009.
11. 11. 2009 "Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Rankings" (PDF). (May 2009). Solar Electric Power Association. http://www.solarelectricpower.org/media/84522/sepa%20top%20ten%202009.pd.... Retrieved 3 October 2009.
12. 12. Jennifer Kho (3 October 2009). "Power Shift: Utilities Begin to Drive U.S. Solar Market". Earth2Tech. http://earth2tech.com/2009/10/03/power-shift-utilities-begin-to-drive-u-....
13. 13. Philip Mattera (5 June 2007). "Is Big Business Buying Out The Environmental Movement?" CorpWatch. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14504. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
14. 14. "Wal-Mart Launches Green Jobs Council" (2 December 2008). Wal-Mart Stores. http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/8835.aspx.
15. 15. "Wal-Mart Foundation Supports U.S. Green Jobs". Wal-Mart Stores. http://walmartstores.com/CommunityGiving/8975.aspx.
16. 16. Jennifer Kho (21 July 2009)."Big Oil Bets on Biofuels". Renewable Energy World. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/07/bio-oil-bet....
17. 17. "U.S. Metro Economies: Current and Potential Green Jobs in U.S. Economy" (PDF). (October 2008). Global Insight, prepared for The United States Conference of Mayors and the Mayors Climare Protection Center. http://usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/GreenJobsReport.pdf. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
18. 18. "U.S. Metro Economies: Current and Potential Green Jobs in U.S. Economy" (PDF). (October 2008). Global Insight, prepared for The United States Conference of Mayors and the Mayors Climare Protection Center. http://usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/GreenJobsReport.pdf. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
19. 19. "U.S. Metro Economies: Current and Potential Green Jobs in U.S. Economy" (PDF). (October 2008). Global Insight, prepared for The United States Conference of Mayors and the Mayors Climare Protection Center. http://usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/GreenJobsReport.pdf. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
20. 20. Roger H. Bezdek (January 2009). "American Solar Energy Society's Green Collar Jobs in the U.S. and Colorado: Economic Drivers for the 21st Century" (PDF). Management Information Services, prepared for the American Solar Energy Society. http://www.ases.org/images/stories/ASES/pdfs/CO_Jobs_Rpt_Jan2009_summary.... Retrieved 3 October 2009.
21. 21. "Green Jobs: Towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world" (PDF). (September 2008). United Nations Environment Programme. http://www.unep.org/labour_environment/PDFs/Greenjobs/UNEP-Green-Jobs-Re.... Retrieved 1 October 2009.
22. 22. "UNEP Background Paper on Green Jobs" (PDF). (2008). United Nations Environment Programme. http://www.unep.org/labour_environment/PDFs/Green-Jobs-Background-paper-.... Retrieved 2 October 2009.
23. 23. "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Job Impact by Congressional District" (PDF). (17 February 2009). The White House. http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Recovery_Act_congressional_di....
24. 24. Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein (9 January 2009). "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan" (PDF). http://www.ampo.org/assets/library/184_obama.pdf. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
25. 25. "Repowering America with a Green Economic Recovery Plan" (PDF). (15 December 2008). Environment America. http://cdn.publicinterestnetwork.org/assets/mwBYkLkA50Zc96XPvrsCPw/Refue.... Retrieved 4 November 2009.
26. 26. "Green-Collar Jobs Generated By The Senate Stimulus Plan". (24 February 2009). Apollo Alliance. http://apolloalliance.org/uncategorized/green-collar-jobs-generated-by-t.... Retrieved 2 October 2009.
27. 27. Bryan Walsh (26 May 2008). "What Is a Green-Collar Job, Exactly?". Time. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1809506,00.html. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
28. 28. Gianluca Baratt (27 March 2009). "Job Losses From Obama Green Stimulus Foreseen in Spanish Study". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2PHwqAs7BS0. Retrieved 2 October 2009.