There are many ways to define the “green economy” and what constitutes a “green job.” Let’s start with the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics definition of a green job:
- "Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources."
- "Jobs in which workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources."
That’s relatively straightforward, no? That’s a good start. Van Jones, the founder of Green for All and author of The Green Collar Economy defines green jobs as “family-supporting, career-track job[s] that directly [contribute] to preserving or enhancing environmental quality.” Jones’s definition echoes the United Nations Environmental Programme’s own definition: A green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity.” The bottom line here is that green jobs and the green economy are all about helping and protecting people and planet.
So what might that look like? Imagine yourself…
- as a project manager working for a renewable energy corporation working with private landowners to build access roads for a wind farm project on the Appalachian mountains.
- as a scientist working for an engineering firm surveying freshwater streams for endangered species of mussels and salamanders before starting a large construction project.
- as a teacher at an outdoor school taking children out in a skipjack to learn about the Chesapeake’s ecological and cultural history.
- as an activist working for a community organization rallying support for a county bill to improve water quality.
- as the director of an urban farm, turning old industrial sites into spaces organically growing community and produce.
- a civil engineer in a coastal city working to adapt to more frequent sunny day flooding and storm surge from hurricanes.
This is only a teeny, tiny snapshot of the opportunities for green-collar work in today’s economy. Dahr Jamail and Barbara Cecil, to our minds, sum it up best when they describe the three realms of activism and work necessary to confront climate change and other environmental problems:
- we need to fix the mess we’re in (e.g. transition to green energy, restore polluted ecosystems)
- we need to mitigate the inevitable suffering and loss caused by environmental problems (e.g. building resilient physical and social infrastructure in our communities)
- we need to foster “healing, reparation… and collaboration” in our institutions and communities that let us better approach the other kinds of work (e.g. facilitating community listening sessions between watermen and scientists, or winning compensation for victems of environmental injustices)
With these ideas in mind, it’s not hard to follow Naomi Klein’s argument that low carbon professions helping people deal with the shocks of climate change—professions in social work, healthcare, and education—are themselves vital parts of the green economy.
Regardless of your preferred definition, what drives people into the green economy is more than landing a steady paycheck (though indeed this work can be quite lucrative). This is the work of our time, soul-satisfying, hard work to leave the world better than we found it, improving our lives today and in the future.
