Welcome to
Green Collar
AmericA
A woRkABLe wAY To New JoBS AND SuSTAINeD ReCoveRY
by Brita Belli (illustrations by Joe weissmann)
8,000 job cuts the same day. That month, the nationwide
unemployment rate reached 7.6 percent, its highest level
since the 1980s recession.
But, the previously nascent green economy is taking
shape, bringing with it the promise of new jobs.
Among these will be well-paying manufacturing jobs;
management and sales opportunities with huge growth
potential; and abundant niche positions for enterprising
students and others seeking alternative careers. On the up-
per tiers of the economic ladder, many CEOs and CFOs are
already jumping into green jobs. Online green job directo-
ries are heavy with listings for those with pertinent business
experience.
government stimulus
To jumpstart this new green economy, much hope rests
upon the economic stimulus package called the “American
Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,” which President Obama
signed into law in February 2009, and with the business
expansion and job creation that legislation promises. By di-
recting federal money to infrastructure building and clean
energy, President Obama’s administration has pledged to
use the $787 billion authorized in the bill to rebuild the
American economy and with it, the struggling middle class.
The ambitious goal of that legislation is the creation of
3.5 million new jobs, some of which will directly contrib-
ute to the country’s renewable energy future. The idea is
that the stimulus package can solve two problems simul-
taneously: getting Americans the dependable, well-paying
work that will allow them to support their families and
stay in their homes; and redirecting the U.S. energy picture
away from dirty, polluting fossil fuels like oil and coal and
into clean, renewable energies like wind and solar.
“This is a green and bold stimulus package that will
Yes, the traditional American economic pic-
help our economy and protect our environment,” said Rep-
ture is bleak, with every major sector—retail,
resentative Edward J. Markey, who chairs key energy and
global warming panels in the House.
banking, automotive and construction—
By adding critical job training skills to reach those in
greatest need—inner-city kids, former inmates and welfare
reporting record job losses.
recipients among them—Van Jones, founder and president
of Green For All, believes the federal economic stimulus
Twenty-two of the 30 companies comprising the Dow effort can go even further—to fight poverty and pollution,
Jones industrial average have reported job losses since the simultaneously. His nonprofit advocacy organization is
economy began crumbling in October 2008, including dedicated to building an all-inclusive, green economy.
industries that many experts thought were strong enough to “There’s this whole invisible infrastructure, trying to
weather the storm; even construction equipment manufac- get people who need jobs connected with work,” says
turer Caterpillar announced 20,000 jobs would be cut on Jones, who also authored The New York Times 2008 best-
January 27, and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced selling book, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solu-
24 Phoenix
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