Recently read an article about the emerging green jobs and green economy and one of the comments caught my attention. The commenter asked what green jobs and green economy really meant because he has read article about it but couldn’t really understand what kind of jobs these were.

Last week my topic was also about green jobs and remembered pointing out some of these. But for those who really do not know what green jobs are, let us first define what the word green job means. According to the United Nations Environment Program a green job or green-collar job is “work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and service activities that contribute(s) substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality.” So basically environmentally conscious job is any job that helps restore our planet’s health, promote environmental protection or as The Climate Institute defines as any job “that contributes to increased sustainability or better environmental outcomes”.

And the article last week showed that there are so many jobs these days that are geared towards environmental sustainability. I focused on only 13 jobs but there are more out there. Some jobs though are generic like urban planner or farmer or architect and it becomes part of the green jobs when what you practice while doing these regular jobs are geared towards environmentally friendly activities. Urban planners figure out the best way to use the land in cities and neighborhoods. Green urban planners make sure these are ecologically sound; takes in consideration “preserving wildlife habitats and finding areas to develop that would least damage the local ecosystem.”

Pundits are now reporting that despite the high unemployment and depressing job growth in our country, environmental sustainability is one industry that is seeing a growth. The new graduates are becoming more interested in green jobs whether in a non-profit organization or otherwise. “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment,”  is a report published by Brookings that clearly show that working on solutions to environmental problems are not a drag on federal and state budgets but are in fact creating revenues as well as new jobs. 

According to the Brookings Report, “The "clean" or "green" economy is an important element of America's emerging next economy. It will define our nation's low carbon future while providing opportunity for workers at all levels of the income and skills distributions. In this report, the clean economy is divided into 39 distinct segments, reflecting the economic activity involved in producing a broad spectrum of clean products, from goods such as wind turbines and solar photovoltaics to services such as mass transit and regulation.”

Now one may wonder where it is easy to look for these kinds of jobs. One can find a green job wherever they want to work but according to the Brookings Report:

Among the 21 states with at least 50,000 clean economy jobs, seven states are in the South. Among states, California has the highest number of clean jobs but Alaska and Oregon have the most per worker.
64 percent of all current clean economy jobs and 75 percent of its newer jobs created from 2003 to 2010 are in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas.

Metropolitan area clean economies can be categorized into four-types: 

Service-oriented – clean jobs of this orientation can be found in New York through mass transit, San Francisco through professional services and Las Vegas through architectural services.

Manufacturing - many metros like Louisville; Cleveland; Greenville, SC; and Little Rock—but also San Jose in the West—host clean economies that are heavily manufacturing oriented.

Public sector - state capitals (e.g. Harrisburg, Sacramento, Raleigh, and Springfield) are among those with a disproportionate share of clean jobs in the public sector.

Balanced - some metros such as Atlanta; Salt Lake City; Portland, OR; and Los Angeles balance multi-dimensional clean economies.

Here are some places where you can look for green jobs:

New York, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Area - In terms of its overall size the clean economy in the New York metropolitan area ranks 1st among the 100 largest metro areas with 152,034, where the largest segments are in Public Mass Transit, Waste Management and Treatment, Conservation, Professional Environmental Services, and Recycling and Reuse. 

Examples of Clean Economy Employers in New York, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Area are:

• Aecom USA Inc (Professional Environmental Services)
• L'Oreal USA Inc (Green Consumer Products)
• Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc (Professional Environmental Services)
• Petra Solar Inc (Solar Photovoltaic)
• Recyclebank LLC (Recycling and Reuse)

Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Area - In terms of its overall size the clean economy may be ranked 31st among the 100 largest metro areas with only 16,135 clean jobs but it has the greatest growth of 14.6 percent annually. The largest segments are in Professional Energy Services, Remediation, Professional Environmental Services, Waste Management and Treatment, and Recycling and Reuse.

Examples of Clean Economy Employers in Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Area are:

• Bechtel Jacobs Co LLC (Remediation)
• Briggs Plumbing Products Inc (Water Efficient Products)
• Electric Power Research Institute (Professional Energy Services)
• Safety & Ecology Corp (Professional Environmental Services)
• UT-Battelle (Professional Energy Services)

Little Rock, AR Metropolitan Area – Ranked 44th in overall size with only 11,934 clean jobs but it has also one of the largest growth at 10.5 percent annually. The largest segments are in Green Consumer Products, Waste Management and Treatment, Regulation and Compliance, Electric Vehicle Technologies, and Conservation. 

Examples of Clean Economy Employers in Little Rock, AR Metropolitan Area are:

• Centria Inc (Energy-saving Building Materials)
• IC Bus LLC (Electric Vehicle Technologies)
• L'Oreal USA Inc (Green Consumer Products)
• LM Glasfiber Inc (Wind)
• Rock-Tenn Co (Recycled-Content Products)

Raleigh, NC Metropolitan Area – It has the 2nd highest green job growth at 13.7 percent annually which has also brought the city’s unemployment rate down. Most of the green jobs are in Regulation and Compliance, Conservation, Public Mass Transit, Waste Management and Treatment, and Energy-saving Building Materials. 

Examples of Clean Economy Employers in Raleight, NC Metropolitan Area are:

• ABB Group (Smart Grid)
• Baker Roofing Co (Green Architecture and Construction Services)
• Elster Solutions LLC (Smart Grid)
• Progress Energy Carolinas Inc (Nuclear Energy)
• Withers & Ravenel Inc (Professional Environmental Services)

Albany, NY Metropolitan Area – In terms of overall size the Albany metropolitan area may only rank 14th with only 28,087 clean jobs but this number makes up 6.3 percent of all jobs in the region making them 1st in terms of concentration or intensity. Most of the green jobs are in Regulation and Compliance, Wind, Professional Energy Services, Conservation, and Public Mass Transit. As the home of General Electric, most jobs are centered in regulation and compliance and wind. Green jobs are also largely driven by the state’s government.

Examples of Clean Economy Employers in Albany, NY Metropolitan Area are:

• Einhorn Yaffee Prescott (Green Architecture and Construction Services)
• General Electric Co (Battery Technologies)
• General Electric Co (Wind)
• MTI Microfuel Cells Inc (Fuel Cells)
• Plug Power Inc (Fuel Cells)