Many occupations to benefit from ‘green’ economy, report says

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - For Maryland’s work force, it’ll be good to be “green.”

State workers across a wide variety of occupations and skill levels will benefit as efforts increase across the country to build a green economy, according to a report released Tuesday by a coalition of conservation and labor groups.

The report, “Job Opportunities for the Green Economy,” looks at job skills that will benefit from America’s transition toward a clean energy economy. Workers will be needed in the green areas of retrofitting buildings, mass transit, fuel-efficient automobiles, wind power, solar power and biomass fuels, according to the report.

“We all know that we have to build a green economy,” said Robert Pollin, one of the report’s authors and a University of Massachusetts-Amherst economist. “In Maryland, virtually all of the industries will see employment increases.”

The report identifies the occupations for each green industry. For retrofitting buildings, electricians, heating/air conditioning installers, carpenters, construction equipment operators, roofers, insulators, truck drivers, construction managers and building inspectors will be needed.

“The green industry is a developing industry — there’s no question more jobs will be available,” said Michael Furbish, president of the Furbish Co., a Baltimore-based sustainable building firm. “It’s not that different from jobs being available at the beginning of the dot-com era. That was a new industry, and a lot of jobs followed.”

The report shows many workers are already working in jobs that will be needed in green industries, said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.

“Everyone is talking about how the transition to a clean energy future will create millions [more] of new ‘green-collar’ jobs,” Pope said. “From steelworkers to software engineers — millions of other workers stand to benefit from implementing the clean energy solutions we need to fight global warming.” 

The report was commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com

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