the green economy and community based workforce development organizations

massworkforcealliance.org 2009

“Occasionally something different happens, a collective awakening to new possibilities that changes everything over time – how people see the world, what they value, how society defines progress and organizes itself, and how institutions operate. The Renaissance was such a shift, as was the Industrial Revolution. So, too, is what is starting to happen around the world today.”

Peter Senge, The Necessary Revolution

The Green Economy and Community Based

Workforce Development Organizations

Massachusetts Workforce Alliance, 2009


Three goals:

1. Understanding the opportunity

2. Identifying the unique role for and needs of community based wd programs

3. Outlining next steps


What is the ‘green’ economy?

And why is it growing?


What is a ‘green’ job?


Apollo Alliance’s definition:

Green-collar jobs are well paid, career track jobs that contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality.


Green-Collar Jobs… • Rebuild a strong middle class

• Provide pathways out of poverty

• Require some new skills (and some new thinking about old skills)

• Tend to be local jobs

• Strengthen urban and rural communities

• Protect our health and the health of the planet

definition from Green For All


CA Employment Development Department

Green 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 and awareness• Natural and sustainable product

manufacturing


Industry sectors• Energy

• Construction

• Transportation

• Material waste / Recycling /Deconstruction

• Non-toxic materials and processes

• Food / Agriculture

• Water

• Local production

Job Projections


Summary of US Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Industries in 2007Management Information Services Inc. and American Solar Energy Society, 2008

Industry Revenues (billions)

Industry Jobs (thousands)

Total Jobs (thousands)

Renewable Energy $42.58 218 504

Energy Efficiency $1,002.92 3,745 8,586

TOTAL $1,0045.50 3,963 9,090


Construction

The overall green building market is likely to more than double from today’s $36-49 billion to $96-140 billion by 2013

(Source: McGraw Hill Construction (2009). Green Outlook 2009: Trends Driving Change.)

What kinds of jobs?


R. Pinderhughes entry level green jobs, Bay Area, CA

22 sectors with entry level jobs, including

• Bicycle repair and bike delivery • Car and truck mechanic jobs related to

alternative fuels• Waste composting • Hazardous materials clean up • Public transit jobs


Pollin, Green Recovery

Identified jobs in

• Building Retrofit

• Mass Transit/Freight Rail

• Smart Grid

• Wind and Solar

• Advanced Biofuels


Also

• Electricians • Plumbers • Green roof installers and maintainers• Building maintainers• Utility workers

There will be some new jobs others will be refocused


MA Clean Energy Sector:

• 14,400 jobs in clean energy cluster

• Now 10th largest industry in the state

• Surveyed executives expect 30% job growth in renewable energy firms and 25% for energy efficiency firms over the next year.

Mass Clean Energy Industry Census Report, August 2007, Mass Technology Collaborative


Clean Tech Agenda

• Make Massachusetts a leader in clean tech• 5 areas of opportunity for MA

1. Safer alternatives – non-toxic / less toxic products and processes

2. Green building3. Emerging materials – bio and nano

technologies4. Clean energy5. Materials re-useClean Tech: An Agenda for a Healthy Economy, 2007


policy and regulation


MA picture

• Green Communities Act• Green Jobs bill• Global Warming Solutions Act• Oceans Act• Clean Energy Biofuels Act• Decoupling • Commonwealth Solar program


Other MA efforts and organizations

• Clean Energy Center

• NE Clean Energy Council

• Mass Technology Collaborative

• community energy committees

• Mass Green Jobs Coalition (MAGJC)


National picture

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka stimulus package)

• 2 years of funding

• Quick start projects

• Unclear how some monies will come to states and programs; much will come through traditional channels and formulas

• 79,000 jobs created in MA (us gov estimate)


Training

• Additional WIA funding

• Energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training funds

• Worker training funds for electricity delivery and energy reliability activities (DOE)

• Highway construction OJT and support funds


Industries stimulated

• Weatherization and building retrofit• Expanding mass transit and freight rail• Constructing smart electrical grid• Renewable energy• Water and land use/clean up• Road and bridge construction


Other national actors:

• Green For All

• Apollo Alliance

• One Sky

• Blue Green Alliance (United Steel Workers and Sierra Club)

• Moveon.org


What kinds of knowledge and skills are needed?


Specific skills are needed, as well as…

• Readiness to work• Basic skills in math, writing,

communication, and analysis• Facility with computers• Concern about the environment and the

community• Ability to communicate technically and

plainly with customers• Ability to be flexible and adapt to change


And,

• There is a premium on understanding the situation, systems thinking, making connections

• Because this is a watershed time in our global economy/structure, a lot isn’t yet known


Credentials/certifications

• Energy efficiency

• Solar

• Insulation

• Construction

• Safety


Examples of Community Based ‘green’ WD programs

• Solar Richmond – pv installation

• Sustainable South Bronx / DC Greenworks – green roofs, urban arboriculture

• WAGES – non-toxic cleaning

• Piedmont Biofuels - biodiesel

• Growing Home – urban farming

• Second Chance - deconstruction


Other training providers

• Community and Technical Colleges

• Unions

• Training accredited by national organizations


What can help grow this economy?

• National and state policy and regulation

• Municipal policy and regulation; municipal purchasing

• Industry investment

• Market demand

• Citizen education and activism and advocacy


Discussion

• What are the assets cbos bring to training?

• What needs to happen for cbos serving low income communities in MA to be significantly involved? on the practical and policy levels

• What would helpful for the legislature to know about wd cbos and the populations that they serve?

Building a competitive and equitable green economy

means investing in the backbone of America’s labor

force: workers with more than high school, but less than a four-year degree.

Green Collar Jobs in America’s Cities

the green economy and community based workforce development organizations

Documents