State sees uptick in Green-Job potential But N.J. remains among slowest in U.S. for growth
By Evelyn Lee
Green jobs paint a contradictory picture in the Garden State: While New Jersey is one of the top states for clean-energy employment and investment, it also has one of the slowest growth rates for green jobs in the nation, according to experts. Still, potential for new green-job growth in New Jersey is coming in emerging sectors that are the focus of new state initiatives, they said.
Green jobs are generally defined as those that involve protecting wildlife or ecosystems, reducing pollution or waste, or reducing energy use and lowering carbon emissions, according to Rutgers University’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, in New Brunswick.
Actual green-job numbers are difficult to determine, because of a lack of a clearly defined federal government standard for counting such jobs, the center said. According to an October report from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the state had 20,764 companies in so-called green industries, which include energy efficiency, renewable energy, environmental remediation and transportation; those companies employ nearly 192,000 workers, about 5 percent of the state’s total employment.
A June study released by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which used a more conservative methodology, counted 2,031 New Jersey businesses comprising 25,397 jobs in the clean-energy economy in 2007, the most recent year available. The state received nearly $283 million in venture capital funds from 2006 to 2008 and 248 patents in clean energy between 1999 and 2008; the Garden State ranked among the top 10 states in all four categories, according to the study.
The Garden State also ranked in the top 10 for the number of conservation and pollution mitigation jobs, one of five job categories under the clean-energy economy; the others included clean energy, energy efficiency, environmentally friendly production, and training and support.
New Jersey, however, was one of several states with large clean-energy economies that were losing jobs, ranking 49th for growth in clean-energy jobs, the Pew report said. While green jobs grew by 9.1 percent nationwide between 1998 and 2007, New Jersey’s green jobs shrank by 9.6 percent during that time period, the second-largest decline in clean-energy jobs after Utah, according to the report.
The negative growth in clean-energy jobs can be attributed to the state’s high concentration of jobs in conservation and pollution mitigation, which include those involved with waste, air and environment, water and wastewater treatment, as well as recycling, said Kil Huh, project director of research at Pew. Those more mature job sectors have been growing less robustly than emerging sectors, like energy efficiency, and in some cases have been shrinking, he said.
At the same time, “New Jersey has done very well” in creating new jobs in energy efficiency, research and advocacy, energy generation and green building, Huh said. Those four sectors are “still small in New Jersey, but they’re growing at a very high clip,” better than the national average, he said.
The state had about 3,064 green-job openings from December 2008 to August 2009, according to the state Labor Department report. Between 178 and 980 green jobs were posted each month during that time period, the report said. About 60 percent of job openings were in science and engineering; business finance jobs accounted for 10 percent.
New Jersey had few postings for so-called green-collar jobs in the building and utilities industries, such as solar panel installers. While the limited number of openings did not meet initial expectations, the report cited possible explanations for the lack of demand, such as federal and state stimulus-funded projects still being in the early stages and not yet creating a spike in demand, whereas other openings may have been filled internally.
“What we’re actually seeing are a lot of openings for project managers, engineers, people planning large infrastructure projects,” as well as customer service representatives charged with raising awareness about weatherization incentives, said Jennifer Cleary, senior project manager at the Heldrich Center. Jobs in energy auditing and retrofitting homes for energy efficiency also have seen a large uptick, she said.
Labor Commissioner David Socolow said the state has made a number of efforts to boost the creation of green jobs in New Jersey.
“We have put in place some job training programs to ensure we have a talent pool of workers to do house energy audits and outreach,” he said. The Green Job Training Partnership Program will train men and women in the state’s urban areas, as well as retrain existing workers seeking to upgrade their skills.
Green jobs in the state primarily are coming from energy efficiency and residential renewable energy work, Cleary said. But larger renewable-energy projects, such as offshore wind farms and major solar installations, are currently in planning stages and “are going to come several years down the road,” she said.
The state has been making an effort to recruit more renewable-energy manufacturers, since “manufacturing is where most of the permanent green jobs are going to be,” Cleary said. Manufacturing, as well as research and development, are also “exportable,” in that revenues can be generated from demand outside of the state. “Installation, energy efficiency is construction work, but it’s temporary, and then you move on.”
RENEWABLE ENEGRY JOBS IN COLORADO
Colorado is working hard to attract the renewable energy industry. Colorado began requiring utilities to generate a certain amount of power from renewable energy and with this comes new renewable energy jobs. Alternative energy jobs can provide careers across many sectors of the economy but policy to spark them can take years to develop. Colorado has already implemented some of these rules but not much growth has occurred
Find current Colorado job statistics at http://www.coworkforce.com/lmi/CES/current_unadj.htm
The statistics do not match up with current claims of job increases in Colorado
The U.S. climate bill that will be overviewed by the Senate would require utilities to generate 15 percent of their power from renewable energy. While the bill passed in the House of Representatives last month, the bill's future in the Senate is uncertain.
CLIMATE CHANGE BILL PASSES
President Barack Obama put political pull on the line and won a victory just when he one.
Obama pushed House Democratic to support energy legislation ever designed to curb global warming which ended up passing
Lobbying and a push by allies former Vice President Al Gore carried weight.
Obama recognizes as much.
"Now my call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this: We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past," Obama said in his weekend Internet and radio address. Obama's overall ratings have slipped a bit. The restless nation is wary of some of his proposals such as deficit spending.
Democrats have a comfortable House majority. But the climate legislation eroded Democrats who represent East Coast states and other places that rely heavily on coal and industry. Obama's personal touch and political pull will be needed on capitol hill
"I hope it won't pass the Senate," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on "
Obama called the bill "an extraordinary first step."
He temporarily may have put to rest concerns expressed by Republicans that he's trying to do too much.
After ignoring global warming for decades, most leading nations now agree it's an imminent danger.
"The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. Now is the time for the United States of America to realize this as well. And now is the time for us to lead," said obama
CLEAN TECH COMPANY IS HIRING
May 9,2009
The recession is deep but clean technology companies are still growing and now hiring. At an average starting salary of $40,000 Aerovinment is running out of space and need more employees to grow. Aerovinment or “AV” “develops and produces Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Efficient Electric Energy Technologies that enable our customers to rewrite the rules - of engagement, productivity, efficiency and safety - to their advantage. AV is relentlessly committed to delivering and supporting innovations that help our customers succeed” as stated on their home page
Not only does AV sell to the military but they are selling electric vehicle charging systems and electrical vehicle testing system.
What jobs are available at Aerovinment?
AeroMechanical Engineer
Accounts Payable Clerk
Application Engineer
Business Development Manager, Army Programs
Communications Systems / Electrical Engineer, Sr.
Visit the web site at http://www.avinc.com/
The Environment, Finally EPA Declares Emissions are a Danger.
On April 17th, “going green” also means becoming healthy. Since the Federal Government has declared that emissions pose a danger to public health, environmental policies and emission standards will become an unquestionable need and not just a debate to support public health.
It is clear that the bush administrations policies are receding. Concerns for global warming were previously ignored and regarded as an economic decision and not a health or environmental need.
The Obama administration is leading future regulations well by providing a clear example of their beliefs. The automobiles used will be standardized to reduce carbon dioxide admissions but cars are not the only intended change. Scientists also claim that emissions from power plants are a large contributor of global climate change.
Legislation will be debated on how to carry out this new declaration of public health risks and the white house will be a strong advocate for speedy change.
On April 21st the Environmental Protection Agency supported a new bill with a far reach for change. A summary Analysis of climate change became available titled “EPA Analysis of the Waxman-Markey Discussion Draft: The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 ”
With all the changes proposed new jobs will certainly follow in supporting renewable energy jobs and environmental jobs.
White house states no job growth till at least 2010
Speaking on C-SPAN, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said that she expected the G.D.P. to begin growing in the fourth quarter of this year. Romer mentioned that she also doesn’t expect job growth until after the economy starts recovering. Job growth is a latent event on economic activity. Romer stated that, “unfortunately pretty realistic” that the unemployment rate could reach 9.5 percent. A sensible estimate for the G.D.P.’s expansion rate in 2010, she said, is 3%.
Christina Romer is a very important person to follow in this economic decline. Her recommendations to President Obama are taken more serious than most economists because of her background research in the great depression.
Based on figures released on May 8th 2009, the unemployment rate in April was 8.9 percent, the largest level in 25 years. The underemployment rate, which counts people who are working part time because their hours have been cut and those who have given up looking for jobs, reached 15.8 percent.
Romer recently mentioned in late April that the rate of inventory liquidation in the first quarter suggests that factories will soon have to begin producing again. Romer believed the White House may "ultimately be vindicated" in its economic forecast for the year, which is rosier than the Congressional Budget Office estimates on growth. Romer questioned recent IMF estimates over the losses that U.S. banks will suffer. Romer's comments came in testimony before the joint Economic Committee of Congress.
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