New Economy Jobs - my analysis

A few days ago, I posted about a 2008 report on what the new "green" jobs will likely be. That report assumed that the new economy is one in which fighting climate change and other environmental concerns are the main driving force. As such, the primary focus will be on clean energy sources, as well as capping carbon emissions. Ideas such as organic foods and "green" consumer goods will also play an important role.

It is my analysis that the new economy that is emerging will actually be a "new energy economy" driven by the need to provide energy and other resources on a sustainable basis. Energy efficiency and alternative energy sources will be the primary focus. An important secondary focus will be the sustainable production and use of other resources - particularly agriculture, forest products, and clean water.

There is a lot of overlap between the two concepts, with the main difference being the motivating factors. The "green economy" motivations being primarily ideological and the "new energy economy" motivations being primarily practical.

Here is a run-down of what will be important growth careers over the next few decades:

Renewable Energy Technology - Solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy systems will be in great demand on both the small, home-scale and large-scale power production. There will be great need for engineers & technicians to design, build, install and maintain these systems. There will also be the need for support personal (trainers, sales staff, office workers, accountants, etc) in this industry.

Energy Efficiency Retrofitters - Energy efficiency is the name of the game for the future. There will be a great demand for contractors, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and others to retrofit houses and commercial buildings for energy efficiency, installing energy efficient windows, low-flow toilets & faucets, upgrading insulation, installing more energy efficient hot water heaters, HVAC systems and so forth.

Water Systems Workers - There is a silent crisis of providing and maintaining supplies of clean water. There will be a great demand for workers involved in all aspects of water conservation and treatment.

Sustainable Farming - This will be an extremely high demand industry for the next quarter-century or more. Food systems will be much more localized in the future, and there will once again be a great demand for small- and mid-size independent farmers serving their local regions.

Gardening Centers / Permaculture Teachers / Landscapers - Part of the new localization of food systems will be many people choosing to raise a portion of their own food. Gardening centers, hardware stores, nurseries and others who produce or sale plants, seeds, tractors, tillers, tools and other gardening supplies stand to profit from this trend. There will also be a demand for people to teach gardening & permaculture, as well as landscapers to install gardening beds and plant fruit & nut trees.

Sustainable Forestry - Forests offer a treasure trove of resources - lumber, paper, fibers, dyes, chemicals, food, etc. These resources are renewable if properly managed, and quickly used up if not. Sustainable forestry is increasingly being recognized by the timber industry, government and responsible environmentalists as the best solution to the problem of balancing the needs of both nature and mankind.

Science and Engineering - All fields of applied science will experience growth as our civilization seeks to become more sustainable, meet the demands of our population and to repair environmental damage already done. Medical scientists are needed to work on both infectious diseases made more serious in a crowded world and cancers caused by environmental toxins. Physicists, chemists and engineers are needed to research and develop new energy sources and energy efficient technologies. Biologists and agricultural scientists are needed to work on solutions to feeding almost seven billion people in a sustainable manner.

Job Opportunities for the Green Economy

Here is an interesting report from 2008. I will be publishing my own analysis, which will vary somewhat from this one, in a few days.

Job Opportunities for the Green Economy
A State-by-State Picture of Occupations that Gain from Green Investments

By Robert Pollin and Jeannette Wicks-Lim of the Political and Economic Research Institute | June 3, 2008

This new report, sponsored in part by the Center for American Progress in advance of a major clean energy jobs study to be released by CAP and PERI later this summer, provides a snapshot of what kinds of jobs are needed to build a green economy in the United States. We focus on six key strategies for attacking global warming and highlight some of the major "green jobs" associated with each of these approaches.

The six green strategies we examine here are: building retrofitting, mass transit, energy-efficient automobiles, wind power, solar power, and cellulosic biomass fuels. We show that the vast majority of jobs associated with these six green strategies are in the same areas of employment that people already work in today, in every region and state of the country. For example, constructing wind farms creates jobs for sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers, among many others. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through retrofitting relies, among others, on roofers, insulators, and building inspectors. What makes these entirely familiar occupations "green jobs" is that the people working in them are contributing their everyday labors toward building a green economy. We therefore consider and refer to the strategies examined in this report as green investments, in addition to global warming solutions.

We present data on employment conditions in 12 separate states: Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin. For each of the 12 states, we report the number of people who are employed in each of the occupations that will be affected by our six green economy strategies, and what the average wages are in each state for each of these job types. We then also provide data on the national employ-ment picture for each of the job categories we examine.

What is clear from this report is that millions of U.S. workers—across a wide range of familiar occupations, states, and income and skill levels—will all benefit from the project of defeating global warming and transforming the United States into a green economy.

Read the full report (pdf)