You Are Still a Greenhorn If You Miss the Fact of Green Jobs

People in every trade and profession are becoming environment friendly, and ''green,'' for going ''green'' is good for the world, good for you, and good for job prospects. Of course, environment-awareness has different implications for different mindsets, as Rev. Jesse Jackson recently found out while attending Detroit to lead a ''green jobs'' rally. Apparently, some car thieves were so impressed by environment-awareness that they decided the gas-guzzling rented Cadillac SUV did not go well with the Reverend's mission and vision, and they appropriated the vehicle.

The livid Reverend told AOL News: ''It was obvious that it was stolen'' and also that there was no contradiction between promoting green jobs and riding an SUV. Some people disagree. In fact, Detroit columnist Henry Payne went so far as to write ''Add Jesse to the Al Gore-Tom Friedman-Barack Obama School of Environmental Hypocrisy.... While preaching to Americans that they need to cram their families into hybrid Priuses to go shopping for compact fluorescent light bulbs to save the planet, they themselves continue to live large.''

However, back to the topic, environment-awareness has gained momentum following earmarking of approximate $40 billion for creation of green jobs in Obama’s economic stimulus package. Interest in green jobs has escalated and if you are not environmentally smart, lack of knowledge might also affect general job interviews.

Which jobs are green jobs?

While definitions vary and continue to evolve, jobs that have anything to do with the following activities are generally considered as green jobs:

• Fighting global warming
• Reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
• Reducing fuel consumption and increasing energy efficiency
• Developing renewable energy solutions
• Conserving and recycling natural resources and other materials
• Restoring ecosystems and helping protect biodiversity
• Removing waste and potentially toxic materials from the environment
• Reducing the negative effect of human lifestyles on the planet’s health

What’s great about green jobs?

According to popular perception, green jobs pay well, cannot be outsourced, and are available to workers in varied industry fields and disciplines. These qualities of green jobs are difficult to ignore, especially following the federal economic package for creation of green jobs.

Many people have the misperception that green jobs require advanced degrees in biology or some exotic scientific discipline, but it is not so. Though the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency continue to have the largest number of green jobs, such jobs exist in almost every sector of commodity production and use.

Green jobs: past, present, and future

While the present recession remains a fact, it also remains that the recession is going to be over. Generalized reports predict a bright future for green jobs and that many existent jobs would require to become environmentally smart and acquire the nature of a green job. According to a study made by the Pew Charitable Trust in June 2009, taken from 1998, green jobs grew about 2.5 times faster than average job growth in the economy. If we look at the future, then according to reports of The Environmental and Energy Study Institute, one out of four workers in United States would be working in renewable and energy efficiency industries by 2030. More than the creation of ''green jobs,'' many existent jobs would be required to become ''green,'' and your career would become obsolete if you do not conform it to be ''green.''

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