Green Labor Journal - Working for a Substainable Future

Growing the Green Jobs Boom

What clean-energy Recovery investments mean for America's communities

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Growing the Green Jobs Boom
By Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
What clean-energy Recovery investments mean for America’s communities

In February 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, one of his first major accomplishments as President.  This $787 billion stimulus package is aimed at revitalizing the U.S. economy – including investing approximately $150 billion in clean-energy projects.

With half of this money now allocated to cities and states, one might ask, where have the clean-energy investments been made? What jobs and opportunities have they created? And ultimately, the core question, is the Recovery working?

Where have the clean-energy investments been made?
Significant Recovery funds have gone to energy-efficiency ─ the clean-energy field with perhaps the greatest potential to make an immediate impact on three key goals: creating jobs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and helping low-income communities.

Major energy-efficiency investments from the Recovery Act include $5 billion to the Weatherization Assistance Program, which weatherizes low-income homes; $3.2 billion to the Energy Efficiency and Conversation Block Grant Program, which gives moneys to states, counties, and cities to invest in energy-efficiency; $3.1 billion to the State Energy Program, which allows states to increase energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy; and $500 million to the Green Jobs Act, which funds worker training and builds pathways out of poverty by enabling entry onto the green career ladder for disadvantaged populations.

You can see a state-by-state breakdown of where this funding is going on Green For All’s web site.

What jobs and opportunities have been created so far?
According to the U.S. government’s official website (www.recovery.gov), 640,329 jobs have been created or saved so far through the Recovery Act. With only about half of the Recovery Act investments allocated so far, this number will grow substantially in 2010.  Programs and projects are just now receiving Recovery funding, and will continue to expand and create new jobs.

Yet despite this and other signs that the economy on the whole is growing, the overall unemployment rate has topped 10% – and it’s even higher for communities of color.  The Latino unemployment rate is 13%; for African-Americans it’s nearly 16%.

How do we assess, given these conflicting numbers, whether our economy is recovering? Americans won’t feel the recovery until it impacts their lives and communities, until they have steady, dignified jobs that provide short- and long-term economic stability.

The United States has not reached that point of Recovery yet.  But is the Recovery Act working?  Is it taking us in the right direction?  The answer, I believe, is “yes”. Green shoots of an employment recovery are beginning to sprout across the nation, and Recovery Act investments are already impacting everyday Americans. Opportunities in the clean-energy economy are being created for some of those communities hit hardest by the recession ─ low-income communities and communities of color. And critically, some Recovery Act jobs are proving to be models for what a clean-energy economy ought to look like, including strong quality standards and access for struggling communities.

Portland, Oregon, for example, used Recovery Act investments to launch a new program that will create an estimated 10,000 local jobs over ten years, and save energy and money for thousands of homeowners.  Establishing an innovative revolving loan fund, the program will help residents pay for energy-efficiency improvements to their homes directly on their utility bills.  A groundbreaking Community Workforce Agreement will ensure that the new jobs are available to workers from low-income and other disadvantaged communities, and ensure that the jobs are sustained, family supporting, and include access to affordable health insurance.

This Agreement was only possible through the work of engaged stakeholders, including community groups, city officials – and Green For All.  If Portland’s model proves successful, it could mean that similar retrofitting programs – and the benefits the community receives from them – have a long term viability extending beyond government investments from the Recovery Act.

In New York City, Recovery Act investments are helping the Community Environmental Center (CEC) hire more workers and weatherize more buildings.  The largest Weatherization Assistance Program provider in the state, CEC is a union shop providing good wages and benefits.  Thanks to a partnership between the union (the Laborers Local 10) and Non-Traditional Employment for Women, women and historically disadvantaged workers have unprecedented access to those jobs.

Tahlia Williams, the single mother of a 3-year-old son in Brooklyn, is one of those workers.  "Construction is something that I wanted to do for a long time," she said. "I had no way of knowing how to get into this field because I always heard it was a man's world." Now, thanks to the Recovery Act, Tahlia has a job weatherizing homes in New York.

Watch this story about Tahlia and CEC’s weatherization efforts:

Watch and read more Green For All stories from the growing green economy:

A real recovery is one that allows all Americans, regardless of where they live or what they look like, to have the opportunity to succeed in the economy.  For some people, including Tahlia Williams, the Recovery is already translating into meaningful, career-track jobs and opportunity. For many more, the Recovery will become real in the coming months as innovative programs and models, like CEC and the Portland project, spring up and grow to scale throughout the country.

For the majority of Americans, the Recovery Act is only the beginning – the foundation of a strong, vital economy that we must continue to build upon.  Congress and the President must take the next step and enact strong climate and energy legislation that continues to invest in clean-energy jobs. Our leaders can encourage private investment and innovation by sending a clear message ─ clean energy is the future of our economy.

Only when we’ve transitioned to an economy that brings opportunity to all of our communities can we truly call our recovery complete.

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Green For All, a national organization dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through a clean-energy economy. Green For All works in collaboration with the business, government, labor, and grassroots communities to create and implement programs that increase quality jobs and opportunities in green industry – all while holding the most vulnerable people at the center of its agenda.  (http://www.greenforall.org/)