Running Head: GOING GREEN

4

Going Green

Running Head: GOING GREEN

Going Green in America:

Examining the Opportunities Created by Sustainability Awareness

Elaine Benes

University of Baltimore

July 5, 2009

Abstract

The green phenomenon, the dramatic increase in sustainability awareness, has grown drastically over the past 25 years. By examining a data set consisting of scholarly research, this paper will examine the impact of an increasing awareness of sustainability as it relates to job development, the creation of new green industries, and green construction. Businesses and consumers alike realize the importance of minimizing their impact on the environment. The dramatic increase in green tendencies has led to the development of green industries, and thus, green jobs. Green jobs exist in nearly every industry with the majority of direct green jobs being in two categories: alternative energy development and residential and commercial retrofitting and building. Although a significant number of green jobs are direct jobs, a substantial amount, 56 percent, are indirect.

Introduction

“Green” is one of the twenty-first century’s biggest buzzwords. Large corporations, small businesses, and households have identified the environmental benefits of being green. We can see this increased awareness in magazine ads, on billboards, and on television commercials. Businesses are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint by teleconferencing instead of flying to meetings and by using lighting systems that automatically shut off if no motion is detected. Individuals do their part by recycling, unplugging small appliances, and carpooling. Green isn’t going anywhere, nor should it.

Thomas Jefferson identified in the late 1700s that which took the rest of us nearly two hundred years to realize: sustainability. Jefferson said, “I say the Earth belongs to each generation. No generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence” (in Breitstone, 2008, p. 24). Sustainability offers more than just the ability to leave for the next generation that which was available for this generation; sustainability also offers new opportunities for business and job development.

Background Information

Throughout the Earth’s history, climate changes have occurred. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), these changes have historically been attributed to natural factors such as volcanic eruptions (United States, 2008, ¶ 6). In the late 1700s, scientists began to associate an increase in greenhouse gases with the Industrial Revolution (United States, 2008, ¶ 5). Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been the major force in climate change as a result of the greenhouse gasses emitted through the burning of fossil fuels (United States, 2008, ¶ 7). In addition, the United States is responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions than any other industrialized country (Breitstone, 2008, p. 26). Starting with the first Earth Day in 1966, citizens have started to realize the importance of sustainability, or being green (Scofield, 2008, p. 69) . As stated in the U.S. Metro Economies Report, “While the United States accounts for only five percent of the world's population, it accounts for twenty percent of worldwide energy usage and twenty percent of global CO2 emissions” (Global, 2008, ¶ 2). By creating a green market, the United States has an opportunity to minimize its negative effect on the environment and increase sustainability while creating an abundance of new jobs.

The Impact of Awareness on the Job Market

As people’s awareness of their impact on the environment increases, the demand for sustainability will increase. McNamee (2008) writes:

As high school and college graduates will quickly discover, all other things being equal,

there’s no better time to learn environmentally responsible habits and put them to work

in the marketplace. “Green jobs” are plentiful, and demand for green things is on the

rise. New fields are emerging as a result: a few years ago, there was no such thing as

someone who brokered carbon trades, for instance, and very few builder and buyers

who used terms such as “green buildings.” (p. 13)

Green Jobs by Major Category – U.S. Total
(Global Insight, 2008, ¶ 7)
Renewable Power Generation / 127,246
Construction & Systems Installation / 8,741
Manufacturing / 60,699
Equipment Dealers & Wholesalers / 6,205
Engineering, Legal, Research & Consulting / 418,715
Government Administration / 71,900
Total / 751,051

A current estimate of green jobs indicates that there are over 750,000 green jobs in the United States as of 2006 (Global Insight, 2008). Green jobs will continue to increase. President-elect Barack Obama is committed to increasing the number of green jobs in America. According to Obama’s New Energy for America Plan, he plans to, “... create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future” (Obama, 2008, ¶ 2).

The Impact of Awareness on the Creation of Green Industries

Green Jobs by Major Category - U.S. Total

As stated in Obama’s New Energy for America Plan, the creation of new jobs leading to renewable energy sources over the next ten years is a priority (2008, ¶ 3 ). Renewable energy includes wind power, solar power, hydropower, and biomass (Global Insight, 2008, ¶ 1). Wind power is experiencing the fastest growth of any alternative energy (Global Insight, 2008, ¶ 2). In 2007, the generation of kilowatt hours from wind power increase by twenty-one percent from 2006 (Global Insight, 2008, ¶ 2). Furthermore, solar power has the potential to increase manufacturing jobs in cities that can support manufacturing firms (¶ 3). In the past ten years, direct employees of solar power energy more than doubled from 1,700 in 1997 to over 4,000 in 2006 (. In order to make solar power a more viable energy resource, production and employment in the United States needs to increase (Global Insight). Additional investments in biomass, or the burning of wood and wood products for energy, will also increase jobs and decrease dependency on fossil fuels. Global Insight identifies three major areas of new job development relating to alternative energy production: manufacturing of materials, construction of facilities, and operation and maintenance of facilities (2008).

According to a report from the Political Economy Research Institute, by investing $100 billion dollars in an alternative energy package, more than four times the amount of jobs would be created than investing the same amount in the oil industry (Dembicki, 2008, p. 9). The jobs developed from this investment would decrease the unemployment rate by 4.4 percent in the next two years (Dembicki, 2008, p10). As our nation’s urgency to develop alternate forms of energy increases, so too will jobs in the green industry.

The Impact of Awareness on Green Construction

Consumers and businesses alike are recognizing the importance of energy efficient homes and buildings. As a result, solar powered homes are outselling traditional homes in specific markets (McNamee, 2008). Residential and commercial retrofitting is identified by Global Insight as “job growth associated with energy efficiency improvements for residential and commercial buildings” (2008). Llewellyn, et al. reports that, “…one in seven cities (50,000 or greater population) now has a green building program, an increase of 418 percent since 2002…” (2008, p. 118). Global Insight estimates that by decreasing annual energy consumption by 1.2 percent over the next thirty years through retrofitting, nearly 81,000 green jobs will be generated (2008). While demand for green buildings and retrofitting increases, demand for green building materials will increase as well, generating additional jobs (Global Insight, 2008).

Additionally, new companies and positions are forming to help businesses achieve their green efforts. Schwartz (2007) writes, “The emergence of environmentally focused media and marketing companies comes amid increased efforts by both the public and private sectors to cut carbon dioxide emissions and encourage the development and use of alternative sources of energy” (p. 43). These indirect jobs occur in a variety of different disciplines including education, legal, engineering, and consulting (Global Insight, 2008). These jobs currently account for fifty-six percent of green jobs (Global Insight, 2008).

Conclusion

By increasing our national efforts on sustainability, the United States can not only minimize greenhouse gas emissions, and delay the process of a global climate change, we can also create new, sustainable jobs to help maximize these efforts. As the United States embraces this green movement, green jobs will increase. We can turn once again to the forethought of Thomas Jefferson, as evidenced in the quote earlier in this paper: The Earth does belong to future generations, but perhaps we are just now starting to truly realize that the “debts” we leave behind will be a dangerous burden on those generations. With more and more awareness of the positive effects of sustainability, we can start to build a better, greener future for our descendents.

References

Breitstone, P. (2008). Sustaining success and job security. Economics and Environmentalism, 42 (7), 23- 37.

Dembicki, M. (2008). Green as the new economic driver. Environmental Science Quarterly, (23)4,

2-10.

Global Insight. (2008). Current and potential green jobs in the U.S. economy. Retrieved November 20,

2008 from http://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/GreenJobsReport.pdf

Llewellyn, A.B. , Hendrix, J.P., Golden, K.C. (2008). Green jobs: A guide to eco-friendly employment. Avon, MA: Adams Media.

McNamee, G. (2008). Careers in renewable energy. Masonville, CO: PixyJack Press, LLC.

Obama, B. (2008). Barack Obama and Joe Biden: New energy for America. Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf

Schwartz, M. (2007). New companies sprout up to help marketers reach green businesses. New Science Frontiers,, 92 (9), 43.

Scofield, L. (2008). A brief history of the ‘green’ movement in the United States. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (November 17, 2008). Climate change. Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html.