House Approves Measure to Prepare Workers for ‘Green Collar’ Jobs in New Energy Economy

Thursday, December 6, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval today to a comprehensive energy package that includes legislation to help train American workers for jobs in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries – industries that could create as many as 3 million green collar jobs over a 10-year period. After the Senate approves the legislation, it will go to the President’s desk for his signature.

“By helping green industries to grow by providing them with a strong supply of well-trained, highly-skilled workers, this bill would remove one of the barriers that slows our progress in confronting the serious dangers posed by global warming,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, which approved the green jobs legislation on June 27. “This initiative would boost the American economy by creating good-paying jobs in industries that are likely to continue to grow for years.”

The Green Jobs Act of 2007 (H.R. 2847), introduced by Reps. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and John Tierney (D-MA), authorizes up to $125 million in funding to establish national and state job training programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, to help address job shortages that are impairing growth in green industries, such as energy efficient buildings and construction, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, and biofuels development. The legislation was incorporated into the energy bill approved today.

A 2006 study from the National Renewable Energy Lab identified the shortage of skills and training as a leading non-technical barrier to renewable energy and energy efficiency growth.  The NREL study identified a number of critical unmet training needs, including lack of reliable installation, maintenance, and inspection services, the shortage of key technical and manufacturing skills, and failure of the educational system to provide adequate training in new technologies.

The Green Jobs Act would also help identify and track the new jobs and skills needed to grow the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. Among other things, this effort would link research and development in the green industry to job standards and training curricula.

The new job training programs would create jobs that put workers on a path to financial self-sufficiency. Funding for these programs could be used to pay for the occupational training itself, as well for support services for workers while they are in the training, like child care. Priority for these training programs would be given to veterans, displaced workers, and at-risk young people.

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