Green-Collar Jobs: The Secret History
In 1999, Sightline (then Northwest Environment Watch) published a slim book called Green-Collar Jobs.
Researched and written by Alan Durning, the book chronicles the changing economic base of rural towns in the Pacific Northwest, from resource extraction industries such as timber to “green-collar” jobs such as sustainable forestry, ecosystem restoration, and tourism. The book was well-received as a landmark study of the post-logging Northwest economy.
Fast forward to 2007.
Sightline staff--like many of you, probably--noticed that the phrase "green-collar jobs" began turning up in the speeches and articles of some pretty big names in politics and business.
One of the first--and most compelling--examples we learned about was Oakland-based leader Van Jones. Jones has been speaking to packed crowds across the country (including Seattle) about the promise of manual-labor jobs in the rapidly growing green sector--jobs such as retrofitting, weatherization, and solar panel installation--to serve as a “pathway out of poverty.” He calls these “green-collar jobs,” and has helped initiate a green jobs program in Oakland.
Due at least partly to Jones' influence, leading presidential candidates began using the term to describe what's become a core piece of their platform:
- Hillary Clinton talks about creating 5 million “green-collar jobs”
- Barack Obama has said green-collar jobs are central to his energy plan.
- Now-former candidate John Edwards speaks about “One America in the new energy economy with green-collar jobs"
- Mayors and political leaders across the country have championed “green-collar jobs” programs
- Congress passed a $125 million green-collar jobs program in December 2007, with at least 20 percent targeted for pathways out of poverty.
- etc. etc. etc.
By December 2007, media stories mentioning the phrase were turning up--according to my Google alert--at the rate of several stories a day.
We couldn't help but wonder if there was any relation to our little book.
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Climate Fairness
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Cap and Buffer: Fairness for Working Families
Climate policy offers an enormous opportunity not only to undo our fossil-fuel addiction and build a stable energy future, but also to reverse the natural unfairness of climate change itself.
I’ve said it before: energy prices are going up no matter what, with or without climate policy. But smart policy can turn rising costs into broadly shared benefits. It can shield working families, fund a shift to a clean future of new technologies, compact communities, and a trained, green-collar workforce.
