August 10, 2010

The recent weak news on the unemployment front leaves some of us wondering: Where are all of the green jobs?

The U.S. Department of Commerce made an attempt to answer this very question and set a benchmark to measure the size of the emerging green economy by the number of green jobs it has created. The answer in the report, “Measuring the Green Economy,” depends on how green you want your green economy to be. 

The report found that green products and services made up between 1 and 2 percent of the US economy in 2007, the last year that business census data is available. That translates to somewhere between 1.8 and 2.4 million private sector jobs.

Why such a gap in measurement? The Commerce department is solving a classification challenge that has plagued previous efforts to set benchmarks and counting green industry and job creation. This is because not everyone can agree on the definition of a green job. 

For example, for solar energy panel installation or recycling of paper products there is little debate – these are green jobs, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and conserving resources. 

However, the installation and management of nuclear power plants cause endless debate in environmental circles. On the one hand, nuclear power plants do not depend on fossil fuels and result in limited carbon dioxide emissions. But on the other hand, the mining of uranium is an energy intensive process, nuclear waste is radioactive and toxic, and Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters remind us that nuclear energy is not without risk. 

Biodiesel is another product that pits clean energy investors against deep green environmentalists. Yes, biodiesel reduces the need for fossil fuel, but the agricultural and refinement process to make certain types of biodiesel are considered to be highly resource-instensive and emissions-producing. 

Other, less controversial products like bikes and used books and clothing are often not included in economic reports tabulating the value of the clean energy industry. Yet the use of bikes and the reuse of books and clothing can contribute to reduced reliance on energy and materials. 

The Commerce department's categorizations – with a “narrow” and “broad” definitions of green, is curious. The lower estimate of 1% fits the sector of the economy that generates little debate regarding their greenness, while the larger estimate of 2% is based on the broader definition.

By allowing for flexibility in its measurement and analysis, the report is able to effectively benchmark the state of the emerging green economy – modest, slow growing, but growing nonetheless.

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Join the conversation ( 12 )

• ALAN WIESSNER 1 year 9 months and 1 days ago

  

  My company, Integra Business Systems is a software development company. We develop paperless solutions, such as virtual printing, esignature and electronic storage for all documents, i.e., no more trees. In additon to saving trees, we put little strain on the infrastructure, roads, rail and air; by delivering our products and services virtually, as well.

• Evelyn Lee, AIA, LEED AP [BD+C] 1 year 9 months and 8 days ago

  

  Interesting read - I wonder what the government definition of a "green collar" job would be - as opposed to that of a "blue collar."

• Savona Bailey-McClain 1 year 9 months and 9 days ago

  

  The government really doesn't know how to quantify the "green economy" because the concept is so new. Folks are very anxious about jobs and so the government is focused is on job creation and not reduction of our energy use. Perhaps if folks were to offer data on the new jobs that are being created it could help. Not so much for the government but for the rest of us. We don't know what it could mean either. We need to hear from folks that are experimenting and trying new ideas. That could spark more innovation and help turn around our economy a bit.

• Bridgette Steffen 1 year 9 months and 12 days ago

  

  Likely it isn't omission on purpose but likely just a lack of knowledge on the department's consideration of what is a green job. just needs time to make the adjustments to consider them in the tallies.

• Andrew Michler 1 year 9 months and 12 days ago

  

  I am wondering why building is not mentioned. We have huge existing building stock that needs retrofitting and a huge labor force underutilized to fix it but not nearly the political will, public support and money to do energy efficiency. Almost every green building expert says that this is the biggest bang for the economic buck.

• Jennifer van der Meer 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  Thanks for the comments, glad you find the gray area classification interesting. It shows that even when there is disagreement about what counts as green, we can still give the emerging industry size and shape so we can truly measure progress.

• Michael Johnson 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  A bike its self is not a very "green" / sustainable product. Very resource intensive. Steel, aluminum, coatings, paint all tax the environment. Wraps, cable covers, seats, tires, all made from petroleum products. However, All of this COULD BE sustainable. Recycled metals, natural latex and rubber materials, no/low VOC coatings, etc. Then the manufacturing facility could be net-zero utilizing passive solar and day-lighting, PV and wind electricity on site, capture/store/use rain water from the roof for facility needs, gray water treated in indoor planters increasing O2 and decreasing indoor CO2, treated gray water stored and used to flush toilets, all black water treated on-site in engineerd wetlands. All of this should be standard for all homes and facilities.

• Diane Pham 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  interesting article. i guess when you start to try to establish any standard, there is a lot of gray area and countless kinks to work out.

• Mike Chino 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  This is an interesting report insofar as it calls attention to the ever-shifting valence of the term "green". Hopefully it will inspire thought and the realization that "green" technologies and designs all require the correct context and applications in order to be good environmentally-sound solutions.

• Rebecca Paul 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  This is really interesting. I had no idea how in depth these job classifications were, and I wonder how we can use this information to benefit and grow the current green economy.

• Jasmin Malik Chua 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  I'm surprised the working with bikes isn't immediately considered a green job, but then again, I suppose Chanel-branded, Swarovski crystal-studded two-wheelers aren't exactly the definition of sustainable.

• Yuka Yoneda 1 year 9 months and 14 days ago

  

  I didn't realize what a grey area bikes were. It makes sense that there is debate about whether or not the industry as a whole should count as "green" since I'm sure there are some bike companies that are extremely wasteful/not sustainable in their manufacturing process even though their end product might help someone avoid using their car. And then again it might not even do that.