the future is green! what are green jobs? why are they important? lorraine faulds training &...

The Future is Green!

What are green jobs?

Why are they important?

Lorraine Faulds

Training & Development Director I

SC Employment Security Commission

Why the interest in green jobs?

$$$$

Green Jobs Act of 2007:

$125 million a year for national and state training programs—never funded

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

of 2009

$50 BILLION

Broken down into two areas:

Energy Efficiency (EE) and Renewable Energy (RE)

Goals of the ARRA:

Double the capacity of alternative energy over the next 3 years

Weatherize 1 million homes

Retrofit 75% of federal buildings

Build 3,000 miles of transmission lines

EE gets $36.5 Billion, RE gets $8 Billion

$5 Billion to weatherize homes of one million low-income families

$6.3 Billion for energy-related grants to the states

$4.5 Billion to retrofit federal buildings

$11 Billion to modernize the nation’s electrical grid

In SC…Total of $160 million

$9 million for training

$41 million for local governments for energy conservation projects

$6 million for rebates on energy-efficient appliances

$58 million weatherization

$50 million to make government buildings (state offices, schools, colleges) more energy efficient

Green Jobs Estimate= 460,000 jobs(nationally)

Need to offset loses, especially in construction and manufacturing

One job lost means up to 20 jobs lost in indirect effects (Economic Modeling Specialists)

During good times, these displaced workers would transition to a similar job in the same industry. But in times like these (where there are no other similar opportunities), retraining is the only option.

What is a green job?

MANY definitions

A blue-collar job, upgraded to better respect the environment (Van Jones, founder of Green For All)

“Greener” versions of existing occupations

A traditional job with a layer of green

Jobs that involve protecting wildlife or ecosystems, reducing pollution or waste, or reducing energy usage and lowering carbon emissions.

SC is working toward developing a definition

SC Employment Security Commission

SC Department of Commerce

South Carolina Energy Office

SC Technical College System

The basis for the definition is…

Any activity or service that performs at least one of the following:

Generating renewable energy

Recycling existing materials

Energy efficient product manufacturing, construction, installation, and maintenance

Education, compliance, conservation, and awareness

Natural and sustainable product manufacturing

Did you notice?

Generating renewable energy

Recycling existing materials

Energy efficient product manufacturing, construction, installation, and maintenance

Education, compliance, conservation, and awareness

Natural and sustainable product manufacturing

It can get confusing…

See the glossary handout for help with unfamiliar terms.

Two General Areas:

Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy

Energy Efficiency:

It’s not just about putting on a sweater and turning off the lights!

Green new construction

Building Retrofitting/Weatherization

Mass Transit

Smart Grid

Renewable Energy:

Lots of up-front investment (i.e. manufacturing); we currently get only 2.4% of our energy from renewable resources; President Obama wants it up to 25%

WindSolarGeothermalHydropowerNuclearHydrogenClean/low emission coalNatural gasBiofuels (also called biomass)

A Word about Nuclear Energy…

In some places, nuclear energy is not considered a clean, renewable energy source because it creates

hazardous waste and uses a non-renewable resource (uranium).

It is in SC! It produces 51.2% of the state’s electricity.

Occupations

“Work in progress” list done by the Department of Commerce

Based on other state definitions and lists

137 occupations in 16 industries

See handout!

Industries

Initially…

Construction, Installation, Maintenance (based on funding)

Top 4 industries with the most occupations on the list are…

Life, Physical, and Social Sciences (23 occupations)

Construction and Extraction (20)

Architecture and Engineering (19)

Production (i.e. manufacturing) (19)

Later on…

Engineering, Production, Sciences (i.e. chemists)

Employment in Green Jobs

Occupations with the most employment in 2008:

Team Assemblers = 36,580

Laborers & Freight , Stock and Material Movers = 34,700

Customer Service Representatives = 30,150

Maintenance & Repair Workers = 26,390

Truck Drivers, Heavy & Tractor Trailer = 23,160

Employment in Green Jobs

Occupations with the least employment in 2008:

Miscellaneous Agricultural Workers (40)Power Distributors and Dispatchers (40)

Soil and Plant Scientists (40)

Wages for Green Jobs

Average hourly wages in 2008 for green jobs in South Carolina ranged from $45.25 for Nuclear Engineers to $8.00 for Agricultural Product Graders and Sorters.

Wages for Green JobsTop 5 Green Jobs by 2008 Average Hourly Wage:

Air Traffic Controller = $51.97*

Nuclear Engineer = $45.25

Computer & Information Scientists = $44.08

Sales Engineers = $41.05

Chemical Engineers = $40.33

Electrical Engineers = $38.86

Career Clusters

Manufacturing (29 occs)

Architecture and Construction (28)

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (24)

See handout!

Skills Needed Ten Competencies Needed

to Be Successful in Environmental Work

1. Communication skills2. Collaboration, bridge-building abilities3. “Customer” orientation4. Creativity/innovative thinking5. Broad environmental sciences understanding6. Analytical ability, critical thinking, problem-solving7. Work orientation, professionalism, positive attitude8. Occupation-specific skills and knowledge9. Mastery of information technology10. Leadership ability

From Remake a Living: Defining the Environmental Workforce by Kevin Doyle

National Credentials

The Association of Energy Engineers: facilities managers, HVAC installers, geothermal certifications

The North American Board of Energy Practitioners: photovoltaic (solar) installers and photovoltaic technicians

The Building Performance Institute: building analysts, HVAC; required for Energy Star contractors

Solar Energy International: Renewable energy certifications

The Green Building Certification Institute: Runs the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Accredited Professionals Program for green management and facilities management fields

Education Levels

Back to the list…

OJT: 72 occupations (15 short, 33 moderate, 24 long-term)

Bachelor’s Degree: 32

Associate’s Degree: 12

Training in High School

“We’re not going to be able to build anything and do any green retrofits until we have the workforce to do that. If we wait until they are out of high school to start training them, we’re going to lose a lot of people.”

Jay Hansen, Legislative and Political Director for California’s State Building and Construction Trades Council

Green High Schools

South Tahoe High School’s Green Academy (CA): Expose students to green construction, auto mechanics, and technology

Aiken University High School (OH): Environmental sciences program including ECO-nomics (looks at economics and how the market place can effect the environment); college credit offered

Environmental Charter High School (CA): Green Action Curriculum, Green Ambassador program, Senior Seminar environmental project, Earth Day Educational Festival

Conferences: Green Building Expo (MA), Agricultural Ecology (IL), Energy Career Day (CO)

Current programs can have a “green” element added:

Construction trades: Electrician, Plumber, HVAC

Culinary trades: Organic farming, composting

Automotive: Hybrid and electric powered-vehicles

Examples of Tech School Programs

Biotechnology at Greenville Tech

Advanced Agriculture Certificate (includes sustainable agriculture) at Piedmont Tech

Environmental Engineering Technology at Central Carolina Tech

Continuing Education:Trident Tech: Home Energy Rating Field Inspector

Greenville Tech: Fundamentals of Solar Hot Water Heating, Photovoltaic System Design, Weatherization Energy Auditor, Green Building

Midlands Tech: Alternative Energy Operations, Energy-Efficient Design for Architects, Green Building for Contractors, Photovoltaic System Design and Installation

Teacher Tools

Green-Collar Jobs Campaign Teaching Tools: For HS, 5-part series exploring the green economy, eco-equality, model cities, and restorative justice. (Go to www.ellabakercenter.org)

Rainforest Action Network: For MS and HS, 5-parts including Green My School, Green My Ride, Soy What?, No New Coal, Old Growth Forests; also Global Warming (used with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth movie), Reclaim the Future (Go to http://ran.org/new/ryse/educators.)

Teacher Tools (con’t.)

Going To Green Environmental Education Curriculum (based on the PBS Series Edens Lost and Found): For HS, video and text series on sustainability, community and environmental awareness (20 different topics), Sample unit at www.mediapolicycenter.org.

Green Teacher magazine and Teaching Green book series: Go to www.greenteacher.com.

SC Energy Office: Energy 2 Learn lesson plans, Energy Fact Sheets, link to US Department of Energy’s Kids Page (Go to www.energy.sc.gov.)

The Future

Biotechnology

Nanotechnology

Entrepreneurship: Recessions are a sort of “cold shower” that wakes you up to the fact that things need to change. “Well, I have nothing to lose now. I can do what I’ve always wanted to do.”

The Crystal Ball

The US Conference of Mayors said an economy that shifts to generating 40 percent of its electricity from wind, solar, biomass,

and other fuels will generate 4.2 million green jobs by 2038.

The Apollo Alliance coalition of environmentalists and business leaders says a $500 billion investment over the next 10 years will

create 5 million green-collar jobs.

According to a study from the Blue-Green Alliance and the Renewable Energy Policy Project, requiring that 20% of our

electricity come from renewable sources by 2020 would create 820,000 jobs across the country.

Lorraine Faulds

Training & Development Director I

SC Employment Security Commission

lfaulds@sces.org

803-737-2714

Thanks for your interest in green jobs!