To determine fields for potential career growth, it’s always a good idea to follow the money that flows out of Washington D.C. The massive American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 has committed over $90 billion to clean energy – and that means more green jobs for you. According to the White House, in the first 3 months of 2010, the Recovery Act’s clean energy investments directly created more than 80,000 green jobs and supported an additional 20,000 jobs throughout the economy. By 2012, they project these investments to have created more than 700,000 green jobs.
For those of you interested in green careers, this is all great news! If you’re still not sure whether green careers are for you, you might want to consider that there are a wide variety of green jobs – whether you’re a blue collar worker, an engineer or a creative design type , there is a green career path for you. We’ve profiled several green careers here at Careers Out There. Clearly this is a career space with great opportunity for growth. If you care about the money you spend on energy, then you might enjoy a green career that will help keep our energy costs down in the long run by relying on sustainable resources. If you’re excited by doing something new, cutting edge, and paving the road into the future, that’s yet another reason to consider green jobs. Of course if you care about the air you breathe, the water you drink, our weather patterns and the overall environment you and your children or future children inhabit, then going down a green career path and working in green jobs can be a rewarding way to be part of the solution to becoming a sustainable society.
Clean Energy Jobs
More than two thirds of Recovery Act clean energy investments support renewable energy generation , energy efficiency and clean transit projects . The Recovery Act is also investing $2.4 billion in electric vehicles and advanced batteries, $5 billion in weatherizing homes to make them more energy efficient and $3 billion is going to clean energy job training and innovation (this links to California’s page but you can Google your own state to find local opportunities). You can also find green job training opportunities that are not funded by the Recovery Act at your local community colleges.
For more information, don’t miss our video interviews with a Green Building Consultant, an Energy Auditor & Home Performance Contractor and a Green Interior Designer. Also check out these great sites: Ecogeek.org, Worldchanging.com and Earthtechling.com.
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