Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:30 PM PDT
There were 3.1 million “green jobs” in the US as of November 2011. Green
jobs are growing faster than overall job growth in the US. They pay
well, and there’s an increasingly wide range of them accessible to
Americans of every level of education and experience, according to the
Economic Policy Institute’s “
Counting up to green” analysis of the Labor Dept. Bureau of Labor Statistic’s (BLS) groundbreaking
Green Jobs report, which was released Sept. 28.
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BLS’ data and report follow on similar studies of green jobs — notably by the
Brookings Institution and
Pew Research Center –
that indicate making the transition to a cleaner, greener, low-carbon
US economy and society doesn’t necessarily entail a net loss in jobs —
far from it. If the transition gathers enough momentum, it appears that
more green jobs will be created faster than jobs in other sectors and
activites are lost. Not only did green businesses and activities weather
the last US banking systems crisis and recession better than others,
green businesses and business activities are growing faster than the
broad economy. Moreover, states where commerce and industry are greener
have been growing faster.
The manufacturing sector accounted for the most green jobs in the US
as of November 2011, according to BLS data, which carries substantial
irony, as well as paradox, given that Republican presidential candidate
Mitt Romney and the party as a whole are doing their best to squash
what’s been one of the few persistent bright spots in terms of US
employment and economic growth in recent years — the rapid development
and growth of the US solar, wind, and broad renewable energy and clean
technology sectors. That’s led to a revitalization of US manufacturing
after decades of decline, job losses, and job exports.
