It isn't easy being green, or is it?

It isn't easy being green, or is it? IN THE MIDST OF AN ECONOMIC RECESSION, double digit unemploymentrates, and financial bailouts lies a promise of economic recoverythrough investments and training for a green economy and green collaroccupations. Demand is growing at the local, national and internationallevels for products and services that conserve energy and naturalresources, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce our dependenceon foreign oil. Driving the green movement are America's dependenceon imported oil and the associated volatile fuel costs, and the growingconcern for the well-being of our planet. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are numerous advocates who are thinking green: policymakers,research scientists, environmentalists, entrepreneurs, financiers,educators, industry leaders and consumers. Every state is experiencinggrowth in at least one green industry sector, according to a series ofstate reports released by the National Governors Association Center forBest Practices. But how real is the impact of the green revolution onjob creation, and what is the impact of green on career and technicaleducation (CTE)? Let's begin with understanding what we mean by green jobs.There are those who caution "the rush to jump on the'green' bandwagon has outpaced the development of a concept ofwhat it actually means to be green"--(Dierdorff et al., 2009). Mostdefinitions of "green" jobs involve protecting the environmentand fostering energy independence. For example, the United NationsEnvironmental Programme (UNEP, 2008) states that green jobs should"contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmentalquality." Other definitions root the notion of a green economy inproducts or services that promote renewable resources, reduce pollution,and exist in skilled trades and professional occupations (NASDCTEc,2009). Green activities can range from recycling/reducing waste toincreasing energy efficiency. The emerging green economy encompasses anumber of sectors in the workforce, including renewable energy,generation, transportation, energy efficiency, construction,environmental protection, manufacturing and recycling and wastereduction (see Green Sectors). Green jobs are said to be growing at a faster rate than the wholeeconomy (Melville. 2009) with green innovation occurring in most states.However, the impact of green employment on the total number of jobsavailable is relatively small. There were an estimated 750,000"green jobs" in 2006 (Global Insight, 2008). The Obamaadministration wants to create 5.000,000 new green jobs over the next 10years. The New York Times (11/14/2009) estimates that if this ambitiousgoal is met, green jobs will comprise about 3 percent of currentworkforce levels. By contrast, health care workers of all kinds willcomprise more than one-third of all workers. While keeping the greenpotential in perspective, what are the potential green labor marketimpacts? Many green jobs are occurring in traditional occupations where thecontext, has changed but not the skills. For example, a traditional jobof welding a boiler for a coal-fired energy facility could transforminto a green-collar job involving welding the components for a windenergy machine, or a traditional blue-collar job of assembling an SUV inan auto plant may be "greened'' by assembling a hybrid inthe same auto plant. In both examples, the skill sets for the blue- andgreen-collar jobs arc; the same as is the training for these jobs. Otherpossible greened jobs could include: * All construction workers * Some manufacturing workers (e.g., tools setters, operators) * Energy consultants * Organic farmers * Extraction workers (e.g., drilling, boring, mining) Other green jobs will require significant changes to the work andworker requirements of existing occupations. These changes may or maynot result in an increase in employment demand for the occupation. Theessential purposes of the occupation remain the same; but tasks, skills,knowledge and external elements, such as credentials, may change. Anexample is the occupation of architect, where greening has increasedknowledge requirements pertaining to energy efficient materials andconstruction, as well as skills associated with integrating greentechnology into the aesthetic design of buildings. Other green enhancedjobs may include: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * Power plant operators * Mechanical engineers * Auto specialty technicians * HAVC engineers and mechanics * Precision farming techniques for framers and ranchers * Occupational health and safety technicians But the green influence will also require unique skills and workerrequirements resulting in the generation of a new occupation or one bornfrom an existing occupation. An example would be of solar systemtechnicians who must be able not only to install new technology, butalso to determine how this technology can best be used on a specificsite (see New Green Occupations). The majority of green jobs areexpected to emerge from the transformation of existing jobs as skillsets, methods and occupational profiles are redefined. Similarly, themajority of job trajectories in green industries will likely be builtinto traditional career pathways. Green jobs span a variety of skills,educational backgrounds and occupations. The largest number of new greenjobs are projected to be in occupations requiring professionalcertification, an apprentice ship, or one or two years of postsecondaryeducation. Thus, many of the green jobs are "middle-skilled"jobs meaning they require some postsecondary education or training, butless than a four-year postsecondary degree. What is good news for our economy and our workforce is that thesegreen, middle-skill jobs are less susceptible to being outsourced. Giventhe expected growth of the green sector (Collaborative Economies, 2008),reports indicate a shortage of qualified individuals with the necessarygreen skills due to the lack of a green-trained workforce (While andWalsh, 2008). An Association for Career and Technical Education IssueBrief, "CTE's Role in Energy and EnvironmentalSustainability," stresses the pivotal role CTE programs can play inproducing workers with the skills necessary for green occupations. Atthe cornerstone of CTE is its responsiveness to industry trends andworkforce needs. CTE can respond to emerging green economy in threeways: 1. "Green'' Programs of Study, 2."Greening" CTE curriculum, and 3. Creating New Green CTEPrograms. Green Programs of Study Perkins IV, passed in 2006, included the requirement that to beeligible to receive funds, recipients must offer at least one Program ofStudy (POS) (see Federal Requirements of Programs of Study). TheNational Research Center for Career and Technical Education'sTechnical Assistance Academy is currently working with live states intheir efforts to build capacity for assisting local education agenciesand postsecondary institutions in developing "green-focused"POS models for both urban and rural settings. They include: * Ohio--energy/biotech/agriculture * New Jersey--green technologies layered into other industries * Oregon--wind /solar/construction * Georgia--energy/const, ruction/transportation * Illinois energy/utilities/waste management (sec Three Examples from One State) Greening the CTE Curriculum Green job skills and knowledge built on concepts of sustainability,green technologies, green standards, green processes, and life cycleanalysis apply to every current CTE program. One example was describedby Sally Arnett and co. in a recent edition of Techniques(www.iluccte.org/Arnett_AFI.pdf). Further, as noted in theNovember/December 2009 issue of Techniques, "sustainability"is a new workplace readiness skill and "as such, CTE's rolewill be to develop new academic approaches to sustainability andcontinue to explore alternative curriculum paradigms and careerpathway-applications"--(Konopnicki, p. 47). Green skills and knowledge can be integrated into every existingCTE program or course and built into traditional career pathways to addskills and value for every student. Programs in construction can exposestudents to green building design, renovation and retrofitting ofexisting buildings, and energy management. Plumbing could also integrateretrofitting to increase water efficiency and conservation. Students inautomotive programs can learn green automotive skills as they work on orbuild hybrid cars. Electrical engineering programs can incorporate unitson wind turbines and solar energy. Culinary arts can incorporate foodproduction using organic and/or sustainable grown agricultural products.Carpentry can be taught using environmentally certified and recycledwood. In fact, all programs could incorporate the reuse and production ofproducts made from recycled, nontoxic materials as well as techniques toconserve energy. A simple example is switching off several devices thatare often used together, such as a PC, a monitor and a printer, with aswitchable power bar or surge protector with multiple sockets. Thisreduces the usage of standby power (also known as vampire power orphantom load) consumed by electronic appliances while they are switchedoff or in a standby mode. The curriculum challenge to CTE is not in finding opportunities tointegrate green into programs, but rather, how to systematically ensurethat every CTE pedagogic opportunity incorporates green. This includes: * Classroom-based experiences that directly address green. * CTSO civic or social projects or competitive events that addressconcepts within their particular industries. * Work-based learning (e.g., job shadowing, cooperative experience,supervised occupational experience, internships, apprenticeships,school-based enterprises) that incorporates green themes as part of thestudents' work experience, through careful coordination with thesponsoring business or organization. The Green Opportunity for CTE In addition to integrating green elements into existing programs,CTE can respond to the new and emerging green occupations by creatingnew green CTE programs where there is sufficient labor market demand andbusiness interest. The "green" opportunity today is to createa new or modify an existing program that starts in high school and leadsto industry recognized credentials (certificates, diplomas, associate orbachelor's degrees} and workforce opportunity. Crafting such aprogram with a curriculum that is horizontally integrated (math andliteracy with CTE) and vertically integrated (secondary andpostsecondary) and that incorporates educational experiences that aresequential, progressive and non-duplicative meets all the demands of thecurrent Perkins legislation, and more importantly, meets the needs oftoday's students and tomorrow's workplace. Green Sectors Dierdorff and colleagues (2009) performed an extensive review ofthe literature and identified 12 sectors that were consistentlymentioned. The following sectors are not independent nor are they meantto be exhaustive: (1.) Renewable Energy Generation (2.) Transportation (3.) Energy Efficiency (4.) Green Construction (5.) Energy Trading (6.) Energy and Carbon Capture and Storage (7.) Research, Design and Consulting Services (8.) Environment Protection (9.) Agriculture and Forestry (10.) Manufacturing (11.) Recycling and Waste Reduction (12.) Governmental and Regulatory Administration New Green Occupations * Solar power operations * Carbon capture and sequestration (engineers and technicians, maintenance) * Solar lab technician * Photovoltaic fabrication testing technician * Energy retrofitting specialist * Waste composting * Green landscaping * Whole home performance analysts * Hybrid car maintenance * Industrial ecologist * Recycling, reclamation technicians Federal Requirements of Programs of Study Programs of Study (POS) must include coherent and rigorous contentaligned with challenging academic standards and relevant career andtechnical content. This content must be delivered in a coordinated,non-duplicative progression of courses that align secondary andpostsecondary education, and lead to an industry-recognized credentialor certificate at the postsecondary level, or an associate orbaccalaureate degree. In addition, the programs may include theopportunity for secondary education students to participate in dual orconcurrent enrollment programs, or provide other ways to acquirepostsecondary education credits. Three Examples from One State #1 Energy and Alternative Fuels * Solar, geothermal, wind, biofuel, hydro, fossil * Research and development * Site selection, acquisition and preparation * Business management and operation Industry Partners Include: * American Electric Power * Solid Waste Authority * Department of Agriculture * POET Biorefining #2 Bio-Products * Products based on agricultural feedstocks * Paints, adhesives, plastics, packaging Industry Partners Include: * Univenture * University Byproducts Innovation Center * Channel Bio Corporation #3 Precision Agriculture for Sustainability * Sustainable production practices * Production efficiency * Energy Reduction * Reduce dependence with demand growing Industry Partners Include: * Agricultural Research and Development Center *Farm Bureau * Agriculture Technical Institute References White, S. & Walsh, J. (2008). "Greener Path ways: Jobs andWorkforce Development in the Clean Energy Economy." Center on Wisconsin Strategy, The Workforce Alliance, The ApolloAlliance. ACTE. (2008). "CTE's Role in Energy and EnvironmentalSustainability." ACTE Issue Brief. Washington, D.C. Dierdorff, E., Norton, J., Drewes, D., Kroustalis, C., Rivken, D.,& Lewis, P. (2009). "Greening of the World of Work:Implications for O*NET[R]-SOC and New and Emerging Occupations." National Center for O*NET Development:www.onetcenter.org/reports/Green.html. Cleary, J. & Kopicki, A. (2009). "Preparing the Workforcefor a 'Green jobs' Economy." Rutgers, N.J..: John j.Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. The PEW Charitable Trusts. (2009) "The Clean Energy Economy:Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America."Washington, D.C. Arnett, S. "CTE: Preparing the New Green CollarWorkforce." Techniques (2009, September), 37-38. Konopnicki, P. "Sustainability: The Next 21st CenturyWorkplace Skill." Techniques (2009, November/December), 44-47. UNEP. (2008). "Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in aSustainable, Low-Carbon World." NASDCTEc, (2009). "Green Jobs and CTE." Global Insight. (2008). "Current and Potential Green Jobs inthe U.S. Economy." Lexington, Mass. Prepared for The United StatesConference of Mayors and the Mayors Climate Protection Center. Melville, J. (2009). "Digging Deep on Green Jobs: What theData Tells Us." Collaborative Economics Presented at the GreenEconomy State Roundtable by the National Governors Association Centerfor Best Practices, Washington, D.C, April 30, 2009. James R. Stone III Ph.D., is professor and director of the National Research Center forCareer and Technical Education, University of Louisville. He con becontacted at james.stone@nrccte.org.