Green Jobs

The recession continues to put many Americans in a difficult situation where demand for their specialized skills is mediocre at best. That hurts everybody because there’s less productivity which eventually translates into less spending and less demand for goods and services. Obama claims the solution to that problem is not only re-training people, but creating renewed demand for existing skills in the form of green jobs.

What kind of green jobs? One major example Obama cited was advanced battery manufacturing. Think of the batteries that power the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, or the Nissan LEAF. China is focused on being a major player in battery manufacturing too, so healthy competition between the two countries is sure to continue.

When a new coalition government took power last May, Prime Minister David Cameron made it clear that cuts were needed to control Britain’s budget. Traditional areas like police and emergency services have been trimmed and the entire UK Film Council was shut down. A decision to scrap a subsidy program to encourage the purchase of electric and “low-carbon” cars was saved with a little help from Nissan and Mitsubishi.

The subsidy program was created by the Labour government in 2009, and promised a 25% subsidy up to £5,000 (about $7,800) for people that purchase electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell cars. It was thought that the plan could not only help the country hit their carbon targets, but also generate green jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Earlier this year Ford hinted that they were eager to invest money in Michigan by consolidating car and hybrid battery pack production in the state. According to a letter sent to employees at Ford’s Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti Township, a hybrid battery facility has finally been chosen.

Ford made their plans known during the 2010 Auto Show in Detroit but didn’t reveal any specific details outside of a possible $450 million investment. They were most likely waiting for word from the state government that was eager to bring skilled and green jobs to the state. Later that month, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved $188 million in tax breaks to help Ford set up hybrid battery pack operations.

President Obama's insistence, and for that matter persistence, to stick to his plan of reigniting the job market and stimulating the economy can certainly be admired by those finally back at work. Increased governmental intervention in unemployment, has perhaps, prevented an even more deflated job market than the 9.7% recently reported.

Although stabilizing, the unemployment percentage is still daunting and one question remains to be seen: Is President Obama's next step in his unemployment and stimulus plan finally going to turn the tides on the recession and unemployment?

As President Obama openly admits, the 9.7% unemployment is unacceptable. In Virginia on Friday he said, "Far too many Americans remain out of work, far too many families are still struggling in these difficult economic times."

The UK is already the world leader in offshore wind power with 600 megawatts of wind capacity and an industry that employs five thousand people. A new partnership with Mitsubishi will add to their clout and has the potential to create thousands of green jobs.

Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe (MPSE) announced plans this week to invest £100m  in a new research and development facility for offshore wind power in Britain. The government made it clear to MPSE that they were dead serious about promoting corporate investment in green energy by kicking in a £30m grant to help them get started. The money comes from a fund dedicated to industrial innovation, job creation, and growth.

Fly ash is a nasty substance created during coal combustion. It used to be released into the atmosphere until someone realized putting things like chromium, boron, lead and mercury into the air isn’t necessarily such a good idea.

Instead, we collect it by the ton, either in landfills or at power plant sites. In the U.S., around 131 million tons of the stuff is produced annually each year.

But now companies are finding new uses for fly ash. In fact, around 43 percent of it was reused in 2008 because of companies like CalStar. Reinventing the way bricks are made, CalStar uses steam baths instead of traditional clay bricks, which actually take coal or natural gas energy to power kilns.

Other uses of fly ash include embankment construction, soil stabilization, and concrete. These innovations equate to progress until alternative energies are affordable and adaptable enough to break into the market without a huge amount of government subsidies.

Everyone has heard about the success of the cash for clunkers program that took tons of inefficient cars off the road. The folks behind the “Reheat Britain” campaign wondered if a similar program would work for boilers and got major attention from the government.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, revealed the government’s plan last week to offer an economic plus to get rid of the not so green machines. Fifty million pounds will be set aside to help families get rid of their G-rated boilers in favor of the far more efficient A-rated type. Each household with a functioning G-rated boiler would receive a £400 grant from the government towards the purchase of a new boiler.

The more time goes by, the more many begin to doubt the legitimacy of the funds and policies that were supposed to create jobs and that were supposed to resurrect the working class and that were supposed to heal the economy of a darkened recession. It is no surprise that people are getting anxious, and perhaps downright pessimistic about the current labor situation with the amount of inactivity happening in the job market.

When the stimulus plan was first signed and put into play, many thought it would make an immediate splash in the labor market, especially the green job market. Instead, all that has been seen is a minuscule ripple effect that is slowly making its way into certain sectors and states.

Sure, government incentives are pushing more spending and improvements in homes and businesses, but for the most part, unemployed laborers fear the outlook of the current economic situation, and for good reason.

With the popularity of green job searches surging, CareerBuilder is finally making a move to offer a resource to hook up employers with prospective employees. The site, which was released yesterday, hopes to alleviate the pain of using advanced searches and artful keywords to find the perfect green job. But why so late? 

Obama, since taking his seat as president, has placed a huge emphasis on creating jobs that help solve the energy crisis and better the environment. In fact, according to the CareerBuilder press release, $98 billion of the economic stimulus plan has already gone or will go towards "energy and environmental projects."

The movement towards green jobs, however, has been developing momentum for quite some time. Over the last decade, the growth of green jobs has soared to an impressive 9.1 percent, compared to the 3.7 percent of the overall job market.

The popularity of the search for jobs in this developing market can even be seen on Google.

Manufacturing and industrial jobs  in the United States are rapidly becoming a thing of the past as a down economy is stretching dollars further oversees. Plants and factories are being shut down nationwide, leaving workers unemployed. Prayers of desperation for a new wave of work are all many can hold on to with the limited education and/or work experience they possess. 

Obama's stimulus plan hoped to change all that, but many have not seen the ripple effects of that money. Recently, however, blue-collar green jobs or clean energy jobs are finally gaining the momentum needed to become a legitimate job market and job opportunity.  The problem is that as results of green jobs trickle in, pressure for immediate results and a hurting job market mount and make many, including Congress, uncomfortable.

The more Obama's administration pours into renewable energy, the stronger the debate gets in Congress.

Ultimately, those that oppose the current plan either feel as though there is not a strong enough "comprehensive energy strategy" or that the green jobs have the potential to take away from the manufacturing sector.