A2X Consulting

The $787 Billion Economic Stimulus Package is Very Green, simply put, at least for the green collar industry. It includes $70 billion for clean energy and environmental initiatives and $20 billion for green tax incentives. This Green Stimulus is expected to create 1.5 million quality sustainable jobs in the next 12 to 18 months. These jobs will help decrease energy consumption, lower oil demand and switch to renewable sources.

Where are the Green Jobs?

The goal is to create a myriad of green job opportunities for skilled workers such as solar engineers, green architects, designers and indoor air quality auditors, as well as opportunities for low-skilled workers in areas such as installation of solar systems, weatherization of homes & buildings, maintenance of recycling systems, and sales.

The energy efficiency provision including $4.5 billion for improvement of federal buildings, $5 billion to weatherize homes of low-income families and $6.3 billion grants to local governments is expected to quickly provide employment opportunities. Environmental America predicts that the provisions of the Stimulus Package for weatherization of homes and federal office buildings will create 488,850 new jobs. The weatherization projects will create jobs in areas such as installation of weather stripping around doors, insulation of attics & basement, installation of energy efficient heating & cooling systems, etc.

The Green Stimulus will provide tax breaks and loan guarantees to promote alternative-energy research and renewable energy projects. The Solar Energy Industries Association & American Wind Energy Association predict that more than 200,000 jobs will be created in the manufacturing of solar & wind energy systems.

Green Jobs Training

The Stimulus is also dedicating $500 million in training for green jobs. The green projects would require workers to acquire skills for retrofitting buildings with energy efficiency systems, installing solar or wind turbines, deployment of energy efficient heating & cooling systems, and development of systems for power generation from landfills.

Smart Jobs

The package also includes money for making the nation’s electricity transmission grid Smart. The Smart Grid Technology will make the electricity network like the Internet. It will add network communication and computer processing capabilities to electricity generation, distribution and management. Thereby, the Smart grids will make the electricity power grids more flexible to accommodate distributed power generation from alternative renewable sources, more reliable for consistent delivery, and manage peak-load better than it is today. The construction of Smart Grids is expected to generate thousands of jobs.

Green Careers and Making Green

Fast Company lists the ten most promising green careers in Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade. It explains why the jobs in the list are important and also provides a list of education institutions that provide training programs. The green jobs featured are:

• Farmer
• Green entrepreneur
• Solar power installer
• Forester
• Urban planner
• Sustainability systems developer
• Recycler
• Wind turbine fabricator
• Biologist and
• Energy efficiency builder

As per Triple Pundit, the top green jobs with salaries over $100,000 are:

• Chief Sustainability Officer
• Environmental Engineer
• Environmental Lawyer
• Climatologist/Environmental Meteorologist
• Renewable Energy Portfolio Manager
• Environmental Specialist/Scientist
• Senior Urban Planner
• Commercial/Industrial Designer
• Conservation Scientist, and
• Senior Hydrologist