Urban Sustainability Blog | USA

What Really Is A "Green" Job?

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:24:41 -0400

USA Network member Joel Simon of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) argues we need clearer definitions to take advantage of this opportunity

No one is more excited about the sustainability movement than the workforce development community. When was the last time the public conversation about jobs was this hopeful, this positive? For the first time in recent memory, we feel that the asset that is the skills development system (community colleges, job training programs, community organizations, one-stop career centers) is being recognized as an ally in the effort to develop communities and create wealth, while improving air and water quality and optimizing power, water and materials. Certainly the funding for green jobs training is a welcome change after a decade of disinvestment in skills development.

But for the skills development system, we need to understand how those jobs and skills are distinct from their traditional counterparts (and how they are not) in order to add value to the process. For example, let’s say that policies encouraging consumer recycling give rise to new recycling firms and one of those firms hires a bookkeeper. That firm is certainly a “green employer” and as such that bookkeeper’s job is a “green job”. Non-green firms hire bookkeepers too, of course, and if what that bookkeeper knows and what that bookkeeper does is no different than what she might do at a non-green firm then the job is – from a skills and education perspective – no different whether it’s bookkeeping for a recycling operation than for a polluting operation. So if the green jobs and non-green jobs are the same thing, what our training programs teach job seekers are the same. The Green Jobs programs look strikingly similar to what came before. So why bother? Perhaps that bookkeeper needs to track and report costs differently in order for the company to obtain the incentives that make the business profitable. That’s the green SKILL that makes the difference, and focused investment in addressing that skill differential is where the skills development system can truly add value.

The USDOL Occupational Information Network (known as O*Net) statistics is moving in this direction. They have created a classification of “green” jobs in three categories:

• Increased Demand – Existing occupational categories that are likely to experience growth because of increased demand for green products and services. These jobs typically don’t require a new set of skills. (An example is a machinist who works in a metal forming company that shifts to making parts for wind turbines.)

• Enhanced Skills – Occupations that will require a new set of skills to accommodate the requirements of green markets. (An example would be automotive service technicians who need to learn new skills to maintain electric vehicle.)

• New and Emerging Occupations – New occupational categories created by the development of new markets and new firms. (An example would be Biofuel Production Managers – individuals who manage operations at biofuels power generation facilities.)

The workforce development community needs to begin integrating these definitions in a disciplined way into our work, so that we can figure out when training for a “green” job means doing something different, or just more of what we are already doing.

Let’s continue to celebrate creation of those green jobs and the sustainability improvements they achieve. But let’s also force ourselves to be clear about why and how investment in skills make the sustainability impacts possible.

Updated Framework for Sustainable Economic Development

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:39:35 -0400

New framework provides a comprehensive road map for cities and regions in linking improved environmental performance and wealth creation

In the two years since we released the original background report on sustainable economic development, the field has rapidly evolved and we have been engaged in a number of projects that have refined and enhanced our approach.

USA partners John Cleveland of INC and James Nixon of Sustainable Systems have summarized this experience in a new and updated framework for sustainable economic development planning and strategy. This 75 pp detailed PowerPoint document walks customers through the process of developing their own customized strategies for building local demand; growing and expanding local green businesses and clusters; and engaging the whole community in the process.

Click here to download this new report.

Connecting Urban Sustainability to Wealth Creation

Tue, 18 May 2010 20:58:44 -0400

Author Joan Fitzgerald Maps Out the Terrain for Practitioners in Her New Book, Emerald Cities

One of our core premises about urban sustainability is that long-term political commitments to the work of greenhouse gas reduction can’t be sustained if they don’t translate into economic gains. Author Joan Fitzgerald’s new book, Emerald Cities – Urban Sustainability and Economic Development, is a great introduction to the promise and peril embedded in this premise. In her introduction, she highlights the opportunity and the challenge:

“The potential for cities to build new clean technology industry clusters, improve the efficiency of production in existing manufacturing processes, and create well-paying green jobs in construction, manufacturing and advanced technology sectors is enormous. And so is the opportunity to connect social and economic justice to the sustainability/climate change agenda. Achieving green economic growth with justice is the challenge of the century.”

I got to know Joan when we worked together on one of the task forces (economic development, of course) that is developing standards for the new sustainable community certification system begin developed by ICLEI and USGBC. I immediately liked her “no BS” approach to this space. There is a lot of high flowing aspirational rhetoric surrounding the idea of “green jobs.” Unfortunately, much of it ignores the hard reality of how difficult this work is – and how often it is likely to result in failure. Fitzgerald takes a pragmatic and realistic look at this niche without losing a sense of optimism about its potential. She describes both successes and failures at a high enough level of detail to get a sense of how they worked and what made the difference in outcomes.

The book looks at three kinds of strategies (“linking” strategies that connect sustainability and climate change initiatives to existing economic development tools like job training; “transformational” strategies that help existing businesses expand into green markets and services; and “leapfrogging” strategies that seek to create new sectors in green technology), across five different niches – renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, waste management and transportation. Examples come from a wide range of cities, including Chicago (Waste to Profit Network), Berkeley (PACE financing for solar); Toledo (glass manufacturing for solar); Denver (transit-oriented development); Los Angeles (green ports); and Portland, OR (niche bicycle sector).

Fitzgerald comes to three broad conclusions from her survey of this field:

The U.S. aversion to comprehensive planning and industrial policy puts us at a distinct disadvantage in comparison to other nations.
Linking strategies together is the key to success.
Ultimately, sustainable economic development is a national challenge, not a local or regional one. While there are many moves cities can make, there are also many limits to the scale of change they can leverage.

She ends the book emphasizing this last point:

“Renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, recycling, waste reduction, fewer cars, more trains, walking and biking are not individual policies but parts of the whole of how cities must be transformed. As impressive are the efforts of many American cities, they will realize their full potential only when the exercise is understood to be comprehensive and only when federal and state policy is working to support them.”

This book is a great read for any student/practitioner of this emerging field. She confirms many of the points we make in our sustainable economic development framework, Sustainable Economic Development – Initiatives, Programs and Strategies for Cities and Regions, but adds a high level of contextual detail, nuance and depth that are invaluable for practitioners. We look forward to future work from this insightful colleague.

Urban Sustainability Blog | USA

What Really Is A "Green" Job?

See Also

Updated Framework for Sustainable Economic Development

Connecting Urban Sustainability to Wealth Creation