'Green jobs' movement hits mid-life crisis -- Career Center Blog

April 22, 2010

'Green jobs' movement hits mid-life crisis

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By Randy Woods
NWjobs

Forty years is about the right time to expect a mid-life crisis. Having experienced a mild one recently, I can recognize some of the warning signs: An acute awareness of the passage of time, a sober measurement of past disappointments against ambitious goals, an overall sense of ennui.

As the sun set on the 40th Earth Day, I couldn't help thinking that the event -- and the "green jobs" movement it has spawned -- has reached a mid-life crisis of its own. No longer are people content with the warm glow of hippy-dippy grassroots activism from Earth Day's roots in the 1970s. Since at least its 20th birthday in 1990, the public has demanded to see a grown-up version of Earth Day -- one that would provide decent, high-paying jobs for the average American worker.

Today, 20 more years of Earth Day adulthood have passed, and some things seem to have changed, at least on the surface. Hybrid technology has gone mainstream -- chic, even -- recycling is as normal as breathing, utilities are investing in renewable energy like never before and businesses are falling over themselves to prove how "green" they are. But behind the spring-green type, the always-cerulean skies and the field of happily spinning windmills in the environmental posters, the rising tide of green jobs that would wash away our oil and coal addiction has never really materialized as planned.

Don't get me wrong -- there are some recent changes worth celebrating. Among them are:

A 32 percent increase in private-sector green jobs (i.e., those that help "increase energy efficiency, produce renewable energy, or prevent, reduce or clean up pollution") in Washington state, from 47,194 jobs in 2008 to roughly 62,000 in 2009; including public-sector positions, the state had 99,319 green jobs last year, or 3.3 percent of the total .
Vice President Biden's announcement of a new surge of $452 million in funding to help "ramp up" energy-efficient building retrofits in 25 communities nationwide, including $20 million for Seattle. This infusion, Biden says, is expected to generate 30,000 new jobs over the next three years, and to save households and businesses $100 million in energy costs.
A report called the Hawkeye Green Jobs Index, which tracks the nationwide growth of green jobs, found that compared to the last quarter of 2009, the first quarter of 2010 experienced a 30 percent jump in job openings involving energy conservation, sustainability and alternative energy.

While these numbers and initiatives are encouraging, they have not made much of a dent in the Washington's 9.5 percent unemployment rate. For many of the 332.000 people currently out of work in this state, green jobs have become the "flying car" that is always promised but never quite delivered.

The truth is that green jobs are not necessarily new jobs, but mostly traditional occupations that have been altered to accommodate environmental principles. As Washington's Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee put it when the Green Economy Jobs report was released, "We don't really have a separate green economy. We have an economy that is becoming greener."

As a maturing Earth Day contemplates its middle-aged paunch, it's time to re-evaluate our expectations about green jobs growth in this "jobless recovery." We can't expect a wave of green jobs to spring forth and rescue us from our dire straits. Real change will only come when companies regain their courage and begin investing in the infrastructure that will allow green technology to flourish. Perhaps we are reaching a tipping point where today's government incentives will be converted into tomorrow's new green workforce.

Let's hope so. I'd hate to see a fiftyish Earth Day in 2020 shopping around for that new hybrid sports car and wearing a biodegradable toupee.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.