Green-Collar Jobs Offer Hope to Our At-Risk Youth and Ailing Economy
Although much of the U.S. economy is currently suffering, the green sector is enjoying growth while offering opportunities to lift people out of poverty. The Oakland Green Jobs Corps and Green for All campaigns, for example, are recruiting at-risk youth, training them for and helping to place them in green apprenticeships and employment. Providing peace of mind to workers and lawmakers alike, the jobs entail tasks that cannot be outsourced offshore — installing solar panels and wind turbines, and weatherizing homes and office buildings.
Although much of the U.S. economy is currently suffering, the green sector is enjoying growth while offering opportunities to lift people out of poverty. The Oakland Green Jobs Corps and Green for All campaigns, for example, are recruiting at-risk youth, training them for and helping to place them in green apprenticeships and employment. Providing peace of mind to workers and lawmakers alike, the jobs entail tasks that cannot be outsourced offshore — installing solar panels and wind turbines, and weatherizing homes and office buildings.
“We call it green pathways out of poverty — connect the people who most need the work with the work that most needs to be done,” Van Jones, founder of the Oakland Green Jobs Corps and the national Green for All campaign, recently told the Oakland Tribune.
Last year, Jones helped U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi draft a bill for Congress, which passed as part of the 2007 energy bill (Power Plug, 12/18/07), that included $125 million for green-collar job training.
