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Written by Brad Buck
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Get used to the phrase “green jobs” because they’re out there, and lots of schools are training people for them, and many employers want to hire for them.
How many “green jobs” are out there? How many are on the horizon? Hard to say. Defining the term “green jobs” can be tricky.
But government entities sure do emphasize the need for green jobs.
Santa Fe Community College is expanding its existing sustainability curriculum to train people for jobs in renewable energy fields.
The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions is getting $1.25 million in a federal stimulus grant to assess “green jobs” in the state.
The grant will support job training and labor market information programs to help workers — many in underserved communities — find jobs in expanding green industries and related occupations, the Labor Department said.
Money from the grant can be used by the Department of Workforce Solutions to assess economic activity in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, to identify occupations and skill requirements within those industries, and to tell workers who are trained for green jobs where those jobs are.
Kate Noble, economic development specialist for the city of Santa Fe, said they don’t know how many green jobs have been created in the city partly because “there is no single definition of green jobs.”
Noble described the terms “green jobs” and the “green economy” as “very trendy.”
“The term ‘green jobs’ is generally used to refer primarily to jobs formerly known as ‘blue collar’ jobs,” Noble said.
Many green jobs can be found in the construction industry, where trades people put in solar panels, water-conserving showers and sinks and other devices that generate or conserve energy. They also include solar and wind energy jobs and those that help preserve the environment.
Two weeks ago, the city trumpeted the successful installation of new solar technology at a home in Santa Fe. City officials see this type of technology as an investment in job creation and the local green economy.
The city awarded SolarLogic a grant of $30,000 earlier this year.
“SolarLogic’s innovative business model and deep roots in the community made this a good investment for the city’s economic development fund,” said Fabian Trujillo, director of economic development for the city. The grant funded new infrastructure and equipment for the company.
Green jobs are so important to Gov. Bill Richardson that earlier this year, he created a Green Jobs Cabinet.
The people on that panel will recommend ways to build the state’s green economy.
It will align New Mexico’s education and workforce systems to create a highly skilled workforce to meet the demands of a green economy, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
New Mexico already has attracted “significant private investment in clean energy and clean technology and is home to a substantial and growing cluster of clean energy companies,” the release said.
The state also has abundant renewable energy resources and a lot of research and development in the “green industries” through colleges, universities and the national laboratories.
Contact Brad Buck at (505) 629-4408 or
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