Home California Congressman McNerney Advocates for Green Jobs Training

Congressman McNerney Advocates for Green Jobs Training

by ECT

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Congressman McNerney Advocates for Green Jobs Training

Clean Energy Sector is Reliably Creating New Jobs

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton) introduced the Grants for Renewable Energy Education for the Nation (GREEN) Act to help train a workforce in clean energy fields.  Congressman McNerney is the only renewable energy expert in Congress and sits on the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce.

“I have seen firsthand many jobs created in the clean energy sector.  As someone with 25 years of experience in the wind energy sector, I know that these fields are dynamic and create good-paying, family-wage jobs that are so needed in today’s economy,” said Congressman McNerney.

The GREEN Act fulfills a key need by creating a bridge between secondary and postsecondary schools so that students can transition from high school with technical knowledge that will be expanded and honed in a postsecondary environment.  The bill allocates competitive grant funding for clean energy career and technical training programs.  Post-secondary institutions, local education agencies, career and technical schools, and community partners will use the grants to enter into partnerships to develop these training programs.  The bill also provides opportunities for technical schools to upgrade their own energy systems to serve as model training facilities.

“These new and exciting clean energy technologies have enormous potential to grow our economy and move us towards a sustainable energy future.  By creating partnerships in the renewable energy fields, we will be preparing young Americans to develop and maintain the clean energy systems of our future,” said McNerney.

Today, nearly three million Americans are employed in the clean energy sector, which is more than the amount of people working in the fossil fuel industry, and twice as many as those employed in the biotech industry.  In fact, the clean energy sector has grown nearly twice as fast as the overall economy.  The clean energy industries have proved to create jobs faster than other industries, producing employment growth for workers with or without a college degree.  Additionally, the jobs created in the clean energy fields pay better than the average American job, with compensation rates 13 percent higher than the national average. [Economic Policy Institute, 10/10/12; Time Magazine, 7/13/11]

The GREEN Act is endorsed by the Association for Career and Technical Education and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Constortium.

“The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) strongly supports the Grants for Renewable Energy Education for the Nation (GREEN) Act. Career and technical education (CTE) offers students exposure to the range of sustainable energy career options  available today, while  providing the education and training necessary to ensure that our nation’s workforce is prepared for the green jobs of the future. The GREEN Act builds on these efforts by encouraging CTE institutions to further develop technical programs of study that lead to careers in the green energy field. We applaud Congressman McNerney for introducing this legislation that emphasizes the important role of CTE in the growing and evolving energy industry.” – Steve DeWitt, Deputy Executive Director, Association for Career and Technical Education

“We applaud Congressman McNerney’s introduction of the Grants for Renewable Energy Education Act. Promoting energy efficient Career Technical Education facilities and supporting the development of Career Technical Education programs of study in the fields of clean energy, renewable energy, and energy efficiency will ensure that the United States has the workforce needed to build, support and maintain the energy infrastructure essential for our country’s future.” – Kimberly Green, Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium

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18 comments

been here for a long time Jun 17, 2013 - 7:48 am

How did that work for Solyndra?

Medium Rare in East County Jun 17, 2013 - 10:13 am

It didn’t.

Randy Jun 17, 2013 - 7:53 am

I still want to know what a “green job” is. Someone please tell me.

Medium Rare in East County Jun 17, 2013 - 10:19 am

Randy, here is some counter perspctive on green jobs:
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/02/hows-that-green-job-creation-working/
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/05/the-green-jobs-myth-unravels/
The only green in green jobs in my opinion is the transfer of green from my wallet to theirs in the form of taxpayer sponsored government subsidies. Opinions aside… the cold hard truth is so far the green energy market is largely unsuccessful.

Green Leader Jun 17, 2013 - 11:19 am

$90B? Fact? Fact of an imbecile, perhaps.

$70B of this $90B was wasted on the ridiculous maintenance of “green fossil fuel techs” like carbon sequestration for coal and corn ethanol programs….you know, garbage heaped on us by the Koch Goblins and their Koch Sucker supporters.

Unsuccessful? Green the fastest growing industry and job market in the United States. Crying about paying for this energy, but not that energy, with your paltry contribution of taxes? That’s just leftovers from listing to conservative “nooz” streams. Those will poison your mind and body. *nod

Medium Rare in East County Jun 17, 2013 - 12:31 pm

Fastest growing? More likely fastest successful lobby group to gtab tax dollars. The facts speak for themselves.

ECV Jun 17, 2013 - 4:46 pm

@ “Green this”,

Don’t waste your time with this one.

Medium Rare = Troll.

Enough said.

Green Leader Jun 17, 2013 - 6:59 pm

Lobby group? Tax dollars for energy is not a grab. We like it when tax dollars are spent on infrastructure. That’s what the world calls a smart investment, unless you’re one of the Conspir-a-tards from Beckistan or the TeaBilly foothills.

Medium Rare, you’re the tool who posts information from AEI-“ideas”. The same tools who bring us the twisted, selfish propaganda of the climate denial machine, and the same people who tell us cigarettes are safe. They’re the same people who tell us we have 100s of years of natural gas (it’s a lie…), the same people who tell us GMOs and Herbicides are safe to eat, and the same people who promote fracking, while suppressing renewable energy projects. … Paid Tools, in other words. That’s AEI, lil’ fella.

Are you really that poor of at research, or are you deliberately contributing mis-information and corporate propaganda, with the expectation of being taken seriously? Do you think you’re offing some kind of valid insight here, coz’ *derp* taxes?

You’re a twisted little school boy, with a basket full of lies to peddle…and nothing else. A Koch Sucker, as they’re formally known. Drink deeply.

Green This Jun 17, 2013 - 12:16 pm

Thanks for serving up the perspective of the AEI. Asking them about renewables is like asking a crack dealer if the illicit drugs he sells you are bad for your health.

Fish on!

Some of the “brilliance” of the AEI includes the belief we should outsource all kinds of tasks in our boondoggle wars to support their agenda. A generation ago a $35k/yr soldier would do his own laundry. Now we ship in contractors who earn $125-$150k/yr to do it for them. That sort of corporate welfare is “progress” in the eyes of AEI.

People who were against the automobile pointed out that horse sales and ownership were at their highest right as the automobile was coming out. No one could afford those things and they would never stick around. In other words, it was “largely unsuccessful” in the beginning. That’s kind of where you are with fossil fuels vs. renewables.

Remember when Microsoft claimed the internet was a passing fad? When was that again, like 1992? How did that pan out, by the way?

Some are destined to remain stuck in the past. You sound pretty well planted.

Medium Rare in East County Jun 17, 2013 - 12:34 pm

So, rather than attck the discussion points on green jobs, you change the discussion. Why not disect the points of green jobs being largely unsuccessful?

Green This Jun 17, 2013 - 12:59 pm

In other words you expect me to spoon feed it to you?

The automobile was not “successful” at the beginning. It was comparatively expensive and only available to a few. Many, including obviously some of the biggest players, didn’t take the internet seriously in the beginning. Now it is a vital part of commerce that if shut down instantaneously would crash the world’s economy and financial systems.

You seem to not have much of an understanding of history or how emerging tech is slowly adopted, nor can you read the obvious in the previous post.

Our fossil fuels, particularly gasoline, are heavily subsidized or depressed in price because of our aggressive foreign policy and preemptive wars. We have managed to exploit that for about 50 years now.

But you have 2.5 billion people in the Far East now racing toward middle class status. That phenom is an energy hungry movement. That is why the United States, after spending TRILLIONS in misguided wars in Iraq and the like, are now being marginalized in new oil contracts by none other than China. But the Chinese have not rested there. They have aggressively pursued inroads around the globe. We are officially an also ran in the competition.

We are 5% of the world’s population consuming 25% of its fossil fuels. That is untenable. Within 10-15 years we are facing a massive shift in that balance that will make the recent economic downturn seem as trivial as the keg running dry at a frat party. We have a choice to avert that disaster by changing what drives our economic engine and wean ourselves from the artificially low oil prices sooner rather than later. Or, we can keep the blinders on that you obviously wear and suffer unimaginable consequences.

Now maybe you can come back with some oxymoron quip like “clean coal” or something? Just a thought.

Green This Jun 17, 2013 - 1:16 pm

By the way, solar generated electricity costs are fast approaching, and in fact in large scale ops, has gone cheaper than traditional fossil fuel generated sources.

But the United States, with our usual fat and stupid approach, dismissed the technology(after we invented it). We allowed the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans to capture all the profit in manufacturing of panels.

One of the most successful solar countries on the planet? Germany. They were early adopters. They are generating approximately 32 Gigawatts of solar power right now, or the equivalent of about 20-25 nuclear power facilities in comparative output. They are a fairly high northern latitude country.

So much for the rightwing talking point that solar doesn’t work.

Germany is also on pace to have 35% of the electrical needs met by renewables by 2020 and 100% met by 2050.

So much for the talking point that renewables don’t work. But I’m confident you’ll keep pitching it. Maybe you could get yourself a bumper sticker and paste it on your 8 mi/gal Hummer for the arrogance factor? That’s always good for a laugh.

Medium Rare in East County Jun 17, 2013 - 4:27 pm

How is asking you not to divert away from the discussion of Green Jobs asking you to spoon feed me? You obviously have a lot of time on your hands, and are a believer in this technology. Great, good for you. You also seem to feel the need to attack me personally rather than discuss the actual lack of success of green jobs, or the merits where maybe I could be convinced.
Take away the government subsidies, and green jobs won’t be viable as a business. Show me a link that supports your claim of gasoline being subsidized, heavily or otherwise. That’s a tired claim that just isn’t true.

By the way, are you aware of how solar panels are manufactured? Any idea why more and more the main components are offshored for manufacture? It’s because it’s a nasty manufacturing process, and if they made them in the United States, they’d cost a lot more to produce.
Again, with your personal attacks, I own a two door coupe and ride my bike to work more than I drive (because I can). You really are angry about this stuff, must have a hard time convincing people to consider your points when you lace them with such vitriol. Good luck with that.
I’ll grant you this though, it is in my mind a chicken or egg question (i.e. – which came first), and there will be a need to push it on some level. But the technology is lagging behind the “jobs” needed, and the industry is heavy on a money grab while the picking is ripe and oversight is lagging.
So, if you wish to have a discussion, I’m all for it. If all you want to do is continue to sling personal insults at me, then go find another corner of the planet to get angry at. Based on your posts so far, I’m not sure your even capable of being congenial, but I hope I’m wrong.

ECV Jun 17, 2013 - 4:48 pm

@ “Green this”,

Don’t waste your time with this one.

Medium Rare = Troll.

Enough said.

Green This Jun 17, 2013 - 8:14 pm

If we didn’t have government subsidies, we would never have had the railroads and the industrial revolution. Same for the interstate highway system. Same for the internet. Because no private entity has the capital or wherewithal to develop something like that over the course of 20 years with little to no revenue or return during the R&D.

Like I said, you don’t seem to have much grasp of history and emerging tech.

Martha Jun 17, 2013 - 8:02 am

From the Green Energy Jobs website:

http://www.brightgreentalent.com/green-jobs/green-energy-jobs/

“Green energy jobs can be divided into two major areas, renewable energy jobs and jobs that promote energy efficiency.

Renewable energy Jobs: These are jobs generated in the energy sectors like wind, solar, thermal, biomass and geothermal where these renewable energy resources are used to generate more environmental friendly electricity and heat. This job category offers jobs in manufacturing, research and development, fuel processing, installation, operation and maintenance and many more. The renewable energy sector aims to provide more dependable energy options and minimize the harmful effects of fossil fuel energy and nuclear power.

Energy efficiency jobs: These are jobs generated in the sectors where new technologies are used, in an effort to save energy or improve energy efficiency in the residential buildings, industries, transportation etc. Many equipment, appliances, buildings and vehicle that work on low carbon emission technology and also try to improve the energy efficiency are considered in this category. Basically, energy efficient technologies provide solutions to increase nation’s energy productivity in a cost effective way. There are two major subcategories here:

Green building: There are many job opportunities in the green building projects like planning, designing, material procurement, building control technicians, insulation worker, energy and indoor air quality auditor, energy engineering and management etc.
Green transportation and storage: Our global transportation is responsible for major contribution in carbon emission and greenhouse gases worldwide as it burns 70% of world’s fossil fuel. Therefore, this area offers a great opportunity for future technological developments. Many green vehicle and battery jobs implementing energy efficiency technology are now available especially in electric vehicle and energy storage area.”

Green Leader Jun 17, 2013 - 11:06 am

Other industries would include:

Advanced Biofuels (such as Google-backed http://www.coolplanet.com)

Organic and Soil-less farming

3D Printing and Robotics (“Print” anything from fly swatters to homes to spare parts to …??)

Advanced Materials (Carbon Fiber, Graphene, etc)

Infrastructure (Just about everything needs to be rebuilt, with lower energy use and longevity in mind), plus upgrades like Electric Highways and Nationwide High Speed Rail.

Jobs with meaning and dignity are waiting for us to make the switch!

Green Leader Jun 17, 2013 - 10:44 am

Rather that scream out ignorant key phrases from the echo chamber regarding failed solar endeavors, like some freak puppet, let’s think about reality. Sorry, reality does have a green bias. Get used to it.

This video from Amory Lovins, Director of the Rocky Mountain Institute, may offer some perspective on the task before us, and may open one’s eyes to the vast number of jobs associated with the transition away from the fossil fuel economy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQqv8cWWV2U

These *are* the jobs for the next 25-40 years. One would really have to bury one’s head deeply and firmly in the sand, to think millions of reliable jobs are coming from any place else. Come on board for the big win folks. Clean and Green tech jobs are our future.

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