Green Jobs: Environmental Fantasy or Tomorrow's Common Reality? Part 2

Why American pride and the desire for independence, personal security and better health will likely contribute to the development of clean technologies and green-collar careers

Author’s Note: In this five-part series, I explore the forces that will determine whether or not the promise of millions of green jobs in America can ever be fulfilled. Will careers in energy efficiency, environmental technology and clean, renewable energy—such as wind and solar power—become mainstream in the United States? As with so many issues, the answer can probably be found somewhere between the extremes. Read Part 1 here.

We all receive a heavy, persistent dose of fear mongering related to terrorism courtesy of the government and media. While Americans definitely care about having a secure country, the desire for freedom and productive independence runs deeper—a feeling of pride that would arise from contributing to a domestic economy that is not reliant on foreign nations, especially hostile ones, for our energy.

This drive for autonomy means most citizens support expanded exploration and development of coal, oil and gas in the U.S.—even after the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A June 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press showed that 68 percent of respondents favored increasing the establishment of fossil fuel industries within American borders.

But it’s not all about national pride and independence by way of dead dinosaurs. The immediate concern for most average families and business owners is financial well-being. This is where the concept of security becomes a lot more personal and crosses paths with going green.

“There is extreme volatility in the fossil fuel sector,” says Ron Pernick, co-founder and managing director of Clean Edge, Inc., a research and advisory firm dedicated to the clean technology sector. “You’re only one natural disaster away, one explosion away, from variable pricing. Prices, on average, for electricity in the country are going up. At the same time, the costs for renewables are going down—in many cases, quite dramatically.”

The outdated energy infrastructure of the past century cannot continue to provide affordable fuel and electricity indefinitely. To regain—and sustain—its economic mojo, the U.S. will need to adopt and support newer, greener energy technologies and companies.  

That might be why, despite a great deal of skepticism and growing apathy about global warming, most Americans say they would still encourage more public funding for research and development of clean energy. The same June 2010 survey from the Pew Research Center showed that 87 percent of respondents would approve of legislation requiring utilities to produce more energy from wind, solar or other renewable sources. And 78 percent said they would favor tougher efficiency standards for buildings and appliances.

In fact, efficiency is considered to be another “fuel” since it can dramatically decrease energy usage and costs. It includes everything from building retrofits like weatherization to upgrades of the electrical grid.

“I actually think that the energy efficiency part of the green jobs/clean energy revolution has the most promise of taking off,” says Jeannette Wicks-Lim, an economist at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “This is because, regardless of one’s view on the use of fossil fuels and all the problems you think it does or does not cause, energy efficiency measures will appeal to most households as long as energy costs remain relatively high or rise again. Taking up energy efficiency measures is simply a means of saving money. This is also an area of the economy that does not require a lot of lead time to get workers geared up; nor are there significant technological barriers.”

Americans will support anything that improves their personal security and independence, especially if they can feel proud about it at the same time. Clean technologies offer the potential of providing both.