Green Jobs: A Great Two-Fer

Since the high-profile bank failures last fall, the domestic and global economic recession has been front-page news. Companies downsizing, bankruptcies, and cut-backs are constantly reported and represent real hardships on both business owners and workers. The bailout funds under former President Bush and the stimulus package under President Obama are not quick-fixes - nothing is. As the national economy continues to struggle, Oregon is faced with a 12.2% unemployment rate (June 2009), third only to Michigan and Rhode Island in terms of highest state unemployment.

Oregon’s economic future depends on a diversity of investment from both the public and private sectors. Let us not forget that while we are in the midst of a serious global economic crisis, we are also deeply entangled in an equally serious global environmental situation, and we need solutions that address both problems.

Fortunately, neither crisis need look so dim or everlasting. Green jobs have the potential to address both issues: they can strengthen Oregon’s economy while simultaneously making it more environmental-friendly. Expanding Oregon’s green economy will give employment-hungry Oregonians access to family-supporting, career pathway jobs, while also bolstering the state’s effort to combat global climate change.

Oregon has the potential to develop a wide variety of green jobs from renewable energy technicians to electric engine mechanics, building retrofitters, solar panel manufacturers, waste oil refiners, biomass producers, mass-transit construction workers, and many more. All these jobs are available in Oregon and could grow quickly - all we need now is the policy and investment to get things moving.

Not only do green jobs provide an environmentally responsible path out of our current recession, they will also help to build a strong middle class and keep jobs here in Oregon for the long run. Most green jobs are middle skill jobs requiring more education than high school, but less than a four-year degree and are easily accessible to low and middle income workers as long as effective training programs are developed as green industries develop.

Preparing the Workforce

The Renewable Northwest Project reports that in 2007-2008 alone, renewable energy projects which received BETC support reduced carbon emissions by half a coal plant, increased state economic output by $576 million, achieved energy savings worth $300 million, and created 1,700 new jobs worth $41.8 in wages. The green energy market has great potential. Ensuring that Oregon’s labor market serves the needs of the green energy industry is a smart step in ensuring the future success of Oregon’s clean energy economy.

HB 3300, signed into law on July 8, attempts to advance Oregon labor’s adaptability to green jobs by giving the Oregon Workforce Investment Board the task of developing a green jobs workforce plan, part of which should be a coordinated strategy to train and match low-income Oregonians to professions in the green economy.

As the Business Energy Tax Credit program (BETC), the Renewable Energy Standard (RES), the Energy Trust of Oregon and other clean energy incentives increase the amount of energy projects that are considered in Oregon, project planners will also want to see that Oregon has the trained labor they need. HB 3300 calls for a green jobs workforce plan to identify specific skills demanded by the green economy, invest accordingly in new training programs, and modify existing jobs based on industry needs. This bill is a good sign that legislators are recognizing that economic development and environmental don’t have to be at odds, but can actually enforce one another. As Representative Ben Cannon (D-Portland) said in his floor speech, “History shows that good economic policy and good environmental policy don’t have to be at odds.”

Also, many green jobs will be found within the manufacturing sector of our economy. Take wind turbine production for an example: Turbines are large and difficult to transport, so they will need to be produced relatively close to where they will be installed. Since Oregon is well-suited for wind power development, much of the manufacturing could take place in-state, creating a stable job market. This “green = local” scenario is found in many green job fields including solar panel installation, mass-transit construction, and weatherization projects.

Green jobs have numerous advantages for Oregon, but we must make sure that a green economy is implemented correctly. “Green jobs need to be jobs that are quality jobs, have a career pathway, enhance environmental quality, and support a family,” says Ron Ruggiero, field director for the Apollo Alliance, a coalition working to promote a clean energy economy. Creating temporary, underpaid green jobs will lead to little sustainable economic development. Oregon must give its citizens the tools to fully participate in a green economy.

Energy Efficiency: Less Wasted Energy, Less Pollution, More Green Jobs

“We need continued investment, or green jobs will not succeed,” Ruggiero says. With the financial resources from the stimulus bill, state officials should continue to lead on this issue and begin instituting programs that promote green jobs, such as retrofitting government buildings or homes for higher energy efficiency.

CUB commends the City of Portland and its partners on the Clean Energy Works pilot for their great achievement in coordinating a project that can do just. Clean Energy Works promotes energy efficiency by removing barriers to home weatherization by spreading the initial costs out over a long period of time, automatically paid on utility bills. This low-interest, long-term financing solution makes it easy and affordable for Portland to make investments in energy efficiency improvements to their homes.

Not only will the bill help to cut the city’s gas emissions by tackling old, “energy-leaking” homes, the project is also expected to create jobs for a wide range of workers, especially as the project is expanded in Portland. Job creation related to energy efficiency will spread throughout the state, as well; state legislators passed HB 2626 this session, which provides the legislation and resources to expand a similar weatherization incentive project throughout Oregon.

Green is Good

We at CUB have always been advocates of an economically vibrant and environmentally sound Oregon, and have continually looked for ways to merge these seemingly contradictory goals. An economy that turns blue-collars to green-collars is one such way.

Green jobs have the incredible potential to revitalize the state’s economy and battle climate change at the same time. This is an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.  Recent legislation has made a start, but legislators must continue their support of green jobs and be careful not to retreat from past successes. Green collar jobs have the potential to both green-up Oregon’s impact on the environment and to put more green in Oregonians’ pockets.

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