7700 EAST FIRST PLACE DENVER, COLORADO 80230 303-364-7700 FAX: 303-364-7800

State Green Job Initiatives

New Jersey

Sustainability Curriculum and Green Jobs Career Awareness Project - http://www.tcnj.edu/~mluc/current_projects.html#NJDOE.

The NJ Department of Education awarded a grant to the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) to develop a curriculum focusing on sustainability and environmental awareness. The project is also designed to inform students about green careers and identify the skills and knowledge that they will need to prepare for these environmentally responsible positions. For this component of the project, TCNJ is working with the New Jersey Labor and Workforce Development to identify jobs with a “green” aspect across a broad spectrum of industries and occupational categories.

Green Collar Jobs Initiative - http://www.state.nj.us/bpu/pdf/energy/empstrategies.pdf and http://www.state.nj.us/bpu/pdf/energy/draftemp.pdf.

Aligned with the curriculum and green career awareness projects described above, the Green Collar Jobs Initiative seeks to expand the skilled labor force available to perform green collar jobs. These jobs include the design of energy efficient and renewable energy projects, installation of equipment such as HVAC systems and smart grid technology, and the manufacture and sale of energy efficient products, appliances and equipment. The initiative also seeks to encourage existing energy efficiency equipment manufactures to expand and to attract new businesses to New Jersey.

In February 2008, the New Jersey Department of Labor convened an Industrial Workforce Advisory Committee (IWAC) comprised of human resources representatives from the energy sector and personnel from the state agencies responsible for workforce development, higher education, and training programs. The purpose of the IWAC is to allow New Jersey to gather the information needed to shape curriculum development, ensure the delivery of industry-recognized credentials for in-demand jobs, and strategically allocate funds.

Pennsylvania

Growing Greener II Initiative – http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=377945&mode=2.

$625 million has been allocated over a six year period for projects to protect working farms; preserve natural areas and open spaces; clean up rivers and streams; address environmental problems at abandoned mines and contaminated industrial sites, shore up key environmental programs, improve state parks; enhance recreational opportunities; repair fish hatcheries and other habitat-related facilities; and revitalize communities. This investment is expected to encourage both new economic development and job creation.

Pennsylvania has attracted direct foreign investment in solar equipment factories and a wind turbine company. The presence of skilled manufacturing workers in the state and the commitment to having 18.5 percent of its power come from renewable sources by 2020 have helped in these efforts.1

Vermont

Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) – http://www.vsjf.org/

The Vermont Legislature created the VSJF to build markets for sustainable development and increase the demand for and supply of sustainable products. Since 1997, the Fund has made grants of over $2.7 million to 150 recipients and provided technical assistance and business coaching to many others. Current efforts are focused on biofuels, renewable energy, forestry, and agriculture.

Local and Regional Green Job Initiatives

Albuquerque Green Job Corps – http://www.greenforall.org/media-room/press-clips/green- jobs-coming-to-albuquerque.

This program trains local people in green industries like solar installation and environmentally- friendly manufacturing and then matches them with new jobs in these sectors. The components of the program include 1) funding for local educational institutions to create vocational programs, 2) paid internships with green businesses; 3) job coaching support; 4) placement and retention services; and 5) assistance for graduates who want to further their education at local community colleges or in union apprenticeship programs. Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Grants Competition - http://www.arc.gov/images/energy/rfpsummary08.html.

ARC provides funds to assist Appalachian communities leverage renewable-energy and energy- efficiency resources to revitalize their economies. In 2007, the ARC spent $605,000 to fund 12 different projects ranging from the Kentucky Highlands Energy Business Boot Camp ($75,000) to the Saint Francis University Geothermal Heating & Cooling System Project ($60,000). Nonprofit organizations, governmental entities, and public educational institutions proposing projects to create new jobs or businesses in the targeted communities are eligible to apply.

1 Steven Greenhouse, “Millions of Jobs of a Different Collar,” The New York Times (March 26, 2008): 5. Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University Worker Training Programs - http://www.dscej.org/worker_training.html. The Center conducts worker training programs that provide basic skills and technical training that end in a certification in construction, lead abatement, asbestos abatement, hazardous waste handling, and mold remediation. Seventy percent of the workers who have completed the training are now employed, mostly in environmental remediation. Los Angeles Green Jobs Campaign – By investing in water and energy retrofits for hundreds of city buildings, Los Angeles will create jobs for low-income residents and save up to $10 million each year in utility costs. The City Retrofit Jobs Task Force is responsible for identifying workforce needs and determining the financing mechanisms and funding for the Green Career Ladder Training Program, which will supply the needed workforce.2 Trenton, NJ Green Initiative - Washington, D.C. Green Collar Jobs Initiative - http://planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1282,q,642589.asp. The mayor’s green jobs initiative has created opportunities for small businesses and individual workers through several city policies. These include the Green Building Act of 2006, efforts to reduce carbon emissions, restoration of the Anacostia River, upgrades to the water and sewer system, and the modernization of public school facilities.3 These projects are expected to create demand for construction, building trades, environmental remediation, and operations workers.

For Additional Information

The Apollo Alliance - http://www.apolloalliance.org/

The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, cut carbon emissions, and expand opportunities for American businesses and workers in the clean energy economy.

Blue Green Alliance - http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/site/c.enKIITNpEiG/b.3416603/.

Led by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, the goals of the alliance include heightening public awareness about the job-creating potential of the green economy; using existing economic development tools to expand investment in clean energy and green chemistry; accelerating green building, energy efficient retrofits, and related spin-off industries; and encouraging investment in green jobs, including those related to fuel-efficient vehicles.

Green for All - http://www.greenforall.org. Seeks to build a green economy that can lift many out of poverty by focusing economic strategies on industries that preserve and enhance environmental equality.

2 Apollo Alliance et al, Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities: Building Pathways Out of Poverty and Careers in the Clean Energy Economy (San Francisco: The Apollo Alliance and Green for All, 2008), 5. 3 Apollo Alliance et al, Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities: Building Pathways Out of Poverty and Careers in the Clean Energy Economy (San Francisco: The Apollo Alliance and Green for All, 2008), 7. National Renewable Energy Laboratory - http://www.nrel.gov/. NREL's scientists and researchers support critical market objectives to accelerate research from scientific innovations to market-viable alternative energy solutions. NREL's research and technology development areas contributes to understanding renewable resources for energy, to the conversion of these resources to renewable electricity and fuels, and ultimately to the use of renewable electricity and fuels in homes, commercial buildings, and vehicles.

Robert Polin and Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Job Opportunities for the Green Economy: A State- by-State Picture of Occupations that Gain from Green Investments (Amherst: Political Economy Research Institute, 2008). Available on-line at http://www.peri.umass.edu/green_jobs/. Focusing on occupations related to building retrofitting, mass transit, energy-efficient automobiles, wind power, solar power, and cellulosic biomass fuels, the authors report the number of employees involved in and the average wages associated with these jobs. Data is available for twelve states: Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes, Green Collar Jobs: An Analysis of the Capacity of Green Businesses to Provide High Quality Jobs for Men and Women with Barriers to Employment (Berkeley: City of Berkeley Office of Energy and Sustainable Development, 2007). Available on-line at http://bss.sfsu.edu/raquelrp/.

Professor Pinderhughes provides a detailed case study of how green collar jobs, defined here as manual labor jobs in businesses whose products and services directly improve environmental quality, have provided work force opportunities for individuals with limited education and/or labor market skills in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sarah White and Jason Walsh, Greener Pathways: Jobs and Workforce Development in the Clean Energy Economy (Madison: Center on Wisconsin Strategy, 2008). Available on-line at http://www.cows.org/pdf/rp-greenerpathways.pdf.

This report provides information on the kind and quality of jobs in the clean energy economy; the skills needed to fill these jobs; and how existing plants and their workers can move to the center of the clean energy economy. White and Walsh focus on the importance of bringing together labor, business, community, and education as partners in this effort.