Just What Is a Green Job Anyway?

A green job is whatever Obama's corporate masters say it is. Right now I think the green job they are referring to is the two trillion plus which is about to be given to the banks in the name of creating jobs. And don't worry the Washington Post is reporting their will probably be no caps on executive pay. Now that is "change" you can believe in. Chump change.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

"Green" or "green jobs" fails to get at what these economic shifts are really all about: human well being -- as Renner says.

Putting human well-being at the center of our economic system produces a ripple effect of changes throughout the existing economy. A simple way to think of these changes is in terms of "doing things differently" so that industry "does no harm" to people and the Earth on which human well-being depends, and "doing different things," new types of products and services to support and sustain human well-being.

Doing Things Differently = new PROCESSES that range from how we construct houses to where our food comes from and how it is grown, to full transparency in production to reveal and measure such things as embedded energy and carbon footprints in every single product.

Doing Different Things = new JOBS that arise from the new focus on human-well being, as well as new policies that "re-game" the economic system from "for profit" to "for benefit," with "for benefit" also including a wide range of things from social entrepreneurship to better compensation for caregivers to "green" jobs of all kinds (green tech development, ecological education for all age, green consulting, sustainable development, etc.)

There are a number of other phrases besides "green" coming from ecologically concerned economists that describe the fundamental, radical economic shift that is going on. The best is probably "real wealth" coming from economist David Korten and feminist Riane Eisler.

It's really not about "green" job creation; it's about REAL WEALTH creation. It's about the things we need to do differently, and the different things we need to do, to maximize human well-being and minimize toxicity, disease and misery.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

we need "green jobs" training centers in community colleges so that young people who can't afford universities can break into the "new economy."

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Late on the night of January 27, the Senate Appropriations Committee snuck a vaguely worded $50 billion nuclear bail-in provision into the stimulus bill. Congress's own watchdog agency estimates that half of these $50 billion in loans will end up in default. Way to go, swinging geniuses!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The ultimate green job?
That would fall square in every persons lap... namely, using less resources... conserving, becoming more efficient, having fewer children... leaving a habitable planet for future generations.

Mainly just considering we live on a planet with finite resources and it is up to each one if us to be the change we wish to see in the world. The behavior of each one of us effects the whole. We cannot drill, spend or develop our way our of this... less is more.

Todd

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Although I support constuction that is more environmentally friendly there really are no "green" buildings, just less gray ones. Open land full of plants and animals is truely "green". All developement of open space is environmentally destructive. Right now there are plans to destroy thousands of acres of desert habitat with solar power stations, windmills kill thousand of birds, hydroelectric dams destroy fish populations, and some people are trying to resell nuclear power as being "green". The greenest jobs are those that provide contraceptives services to stop the population from growing at 200,000 people per day.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

You forget the innovation and green jobs will be a profit vehicle for the big corporations,
The people selling subprimeloans and clusterbombs and oil and gas and......the so-called entrepreneurs will make their bonuses by selling GREEN....

Without political changes and changes of behaviour "GREEN" is bullshit.
Because there is already more then enough technical innovation (solarmirrors combined with Stirlingmotors), airplanefuel from algae..
but the companies yet are on the STOCKmarket...

The strange decissions in USA to bailout the RICH and not to help the workers is critised in Europe NOT by Communists but by leading doctors of economy ( see the NRC- Holland of today)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

For Alternet this represents a new low in environmental journalism.
What's the point of asking free marketeers such as PERC and Heritage Foundation what constitutes a green job?

"There's no such thing; that's my definition," said Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Here's an example of the Heritage Foundation's view in their title to an article (November 5, 2008):

"Impact of CO2 Restrictions on Employment and Income: Green Jobs or Gone Jobs?"

Wow, Alternet could do a LOT better by seeking informed sources without corporate agendas funding global warming denialists. Truly, what is the point of printing their "solutions" perpetuating our predicaments?

Advancing free marketeer assumptions that have resulted in our financial collapse is hardly the approach anyone should take.

Green jobs are those which focus on minimizing impacts on the planet and prevent the further degradation of our biosphere in what little remains of our planet's eleventh hour.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

55 is too early to retire. What are those people going to do for the rest of their lives, and what are they going to live on? There are people who want to work till the day they die. There's nothing at all wrong with that. Let them, allow them to do so. 55 is just way too young to retire. They will sap the social security too fast.

For years, we had low unemployment, it wasn't a problem at all. It might go up to 10% now, and yes, that is a problem, but forcing people to retire so young, especially when we're living so long, is definitely not the solution.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The whole notion of "retirement" is an artifice of the owning-class. There's no such damned thing. Most of us lowers had parents and grandparents that worked, under the table, until the day they died because they HAD to if they wanted to eat to live another day.

You rich people and your fancy-pants ideas like retirement.... god damn your stoopidity.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

'Green' jobs is a less than perfect shorthand for economic activity which entails minimal or minimized damage to our environment.

The 'Green' word is, or has been, a useful 'alert' word, to prime the listener on the problems about to be discussed; one regrettable corollary of that is its convenient utility to those companies who use the rhetoric, without any other intention to change. Hence 'greenwashing'

I note that Exxon-Mobil posted $45.2 billion for 2008, on 30th Jan 2009; these people will have to be reined in, before the necessary investment can be concluded. Perhaps even before it can start. Their interests, completely selfish (to the point of blindness and idiocy) make them both powerful and dangerous. In USA, that mostly means abuse of power by undue influence; in other parts of the world, and depending on how dark or light skinned the local people are, it can get pretty rough.

But this is not, therefore, a time for dismay, or disheartenment. On the contrary, the economic crisis caused by the greed and dishonest manipulation of the markets, (trade sales, retail sales, stock values), in the (apparently) short-term interest of the oil majors, has paradoxically, given the rest of humanity the chance to embrace the problem and to therefore find the solution.

That problem includes the cheap oil policies of the last 25 years; not because that did not have benefits (it did), but because it left us totally at the mercy of this bunch of crooks.
We NEED, now, policies which after an investment period of relative prudent conservation of money, we can later have again, CHEAP energy.

The only source for really cheap energy, with no environmental costs to its continuing production, is the sun. (Of course there is some cost, both money and environmental, to the provision of infrastructure, but in the medium and long term, the rewards arrive.)

The companies connected to the oil industry, and employed as almost a phalanx of economic power, used to include the auto and financial industries. Their position now is exposed as a complete fraud. They therefore can no longer impede (though they will try) developments towards 'green' energy production, 'green' conservation measures, and 'green' vehicle and other machines. That word again; handy, isn't it)

So, the power relationship has, I think, changed fundamentally. These are great, though very interesting, times. (The Chinese curse)

The science has been significantly worked out (more than 90%) The technology and engineering has been deliberately retarded by these companies and individuals (And rightist 'think-tanks', with their value loaded agenda)

Many worthwhile ideas have languished, undeveloped, as the new 'green investments' of the people above mentioned sabotage the originating company, or inventors. Usually including a sufficiency of pay-off, discreet not visible, even to the recipients

These ideas can now be implemented. I can think immediately of an invented engine, which has been 'stalled' for 10 years. And it is not anything of a science fiction nature; it's an external combustion heat engine, utilising steam in a set of sealed chambers, highly efficient, zero emissions, zero pollution. German, from VAG research departments in the first place. Now spun of and would be near death as a company. In this changed world, I look forward to hearing soon of mass production (It was prototyped in small production, seemed to have great promise, then....?)

Or I could think of the efforts of the visionaries of Gaviotas, Colombia, to develop (successfully) solar energy (Check it out, los Llanos, Colombia)

We are going to win.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

There are abundant resources on this planet for EVERYONE to have clean water, food, shelter, decent jobs, etc.!!!

The implosion of the world's economy is being orchestrated by our private Federal Reserve & the other central banks!!! It's the scheme of the Illuminati/NWO/globalists to destroy U.S. sovereignty & usher in a one-world dictatorship!

Wake-up already!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

we need black collar jobs: oil drilling, coal mining, auto manufacturing, macnhine tool shops and steel. Just what our Presidents since Nixon have shipped off to their Asian buddies. You don't get big wages in "bicycle repair". And the American people are not going to trade in their cars for bicycles; the Portland/Boston grad student view of the world is fine if you rely on a bike(good for you) but does nothing for families. Families are a subset Democrats and in particular the Harvard style liberal that cluster bout Obama know little or nothing about. The affluent alcoves Harvard professors live in, like Brookline, Lexington, Concord, Belmont and Weston have little to do with South Boston and Dorchester.

The article above has the following fascinating description of the Obama green pledge, which shows it is as elusive as his repetitive yet undefined cry for "change":

"Obama's campaign pledge called for creating 5 million "green jobs" over the next 10 years with a $150 billion investment, figures Pollin says the Obama camp got from the Clinton camp, which in turn got its numbers from advocacy groups, which were not using much actual research. Those groups were offering "aspirational" figures, a fine exercise for advocacy groups, according to Pollin, but not for economists and politicians."

Great. Aspirational assistance. Why not just put Rick Warren in the White House at a million per year and save money?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

A trucker hauling soda cans clearly isn't green

Wait, why not?

Those could be empty cans. Those could be empty cans that are going to be recycled.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

there will be room in it not only for people who are already successful in the labor market but also for people the pollution-based economy has rejected."

This is a good and quite intriguing idea. However, is "green economy" an oxymoron? I mean, isn't the goal of global greening to reduce carbon output and doesn't there come a point when you just gotta think, hey maybe part of global greening is becoming less productive?

So then the point becomes that we gotta re-jigger not just the economy but our lifestyle, our expectations, our basic set of priorities.

Ok, but that's another discussion.

the Green Jobs Act of 2007, which called for an investment of $125 million in job-training programs.

That's NOTHIN!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Interesting, and sad, that the rubric of “green jobs” doesn’t seem to include things like ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation and certainly not advocacy or “environmental” education. All of this seems to be part of the same techo-fetishism that our society is so rife with – if you’re not an electrician or an energy expert, there would seem to be no expansion of job possibilities for people doing these other, seemingly unimportant things...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Things like ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation and certainly not advocacy or “environmental” education. All of this seems to be part of the techno-fetishism with which our society is so rife. If you’re not an electrician or an energy expert, there would seem to be no expansion of job possibilities for people doing these other, seemingly unimportant things.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I think that this might be germane to the discussion at hand.

Italy police arrest 8 in Mafia wind farms plot
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29238563/

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]