Are You "Green" Collared?

During today's portion of The Bottom Line on Climate Change conference, there were some very important lectures on the topic of green jobs. The speakers ranged from economists to the labor union representative. The economists shared a view on the difficulty of predicting the exact nature of how many jobs can be created to cater to the "green" economy. The math is complicated and the variables are innumerable. One economist mentioned that employment might be hurt in the short term by a moving away from a "fossil fuel" economy, but that in the long run, many more green jobs would be created.

While there is a study circulating that tries to show us what could be considered a green job, there have been many who have used this study to muddy up the facts as to where green jobs are and and whether or not these jobs are good ones.  Bob Baugh was the representative from the AFL-CIO (the national labor union organization) and he touched on some very important points. Like in this post, Mr. Baugh pointed out the fact that any job could become a "green" job and that not enough is being done to raise awareness of the need for green jobs and the type of green jobs that are available. It doesn't matter where we work, we can encourage green practices in the workplace. That in itself creates green jobs.

Mr. Baugh presented evidence that showed that over the last decade, America has lost a third of its manufacturing jobs to overseas operations. In that same decade, America's trade deficit has significantly increased. Employment suffers, our economy suffers, and our environment suffers. America continues to be behind the rest of the developed (and even in some cases, the developing) world by not taking up practices that will encourage "green" job growth and will significantly help the environment. It was mentioned by another speaker in the conference today, that when it comes to global warming, it ended up dead last on the list of Top 20 priorities the American government needed to address.

Mr. Baugh mentioned that there are a few things that America's businesses and government can do to change climate-altering practices and bring growth to the world's largest economy. He said that we need to modernize our systems and infrastructure across the board. There are so many things that are dependent on fossil fuels it is mind boggling. We need to train America's workforce to employ more environment friendly practices in their day to day workings. The American government must also unfailingly recognize the effects of global warming in economic and social policy and that a plan must be developed to mitigate global warming. Finally, Mr. Baugh emphasized that many "green" jobs in America are actually being created overseas when parts to things like wind turbines are manufactured overseas instead of here at home. He urged that American businesses bring these type of jobs back to the homeland and likewise, that the government would create policy helpful to this line of thinking.

All in all, this portion of the conference was very informative. Green jobs are the future and with the unemployment and underemployment rate so high, we should be paving the way to the creation of a 21st century green infrastructure and green entrepreneurship, not hindering it. To help in this cause, please visit the Blue Green Alliance to learn more.