John Edwards for President-Building One America in the New Energy Economy with Green Collar Jobs

Building One America in the New Energy Economy with Green Collar Jobs

"We can turn the crisis of climate change into an opportunity for a new energy economy, right here in America. Now is the time to make sure that the economy of tomorrow is an all-aboard economy where nobody is left behind." – John Edwards

Global warming is a crisis that could fundamentally change our planet, but it also presents an opportunity to rebuild America's economy based on clean, renewable energy and good jobs. John Edwards has proposed an ambitious plan to cap global warming pollution and reduce it by 80 percent by 2050. At the same time, he will sell carbon pollution permits to build a New Energy Economy Fund to bring struggling family farms back to life, revitalize America's manufacturing base, and harness American innovation. Today, he described how he will ensure that workers have the needed skills to build the new energy economy and that it creates good job opportunities for everyone.

Edwards' investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency technology will create more than 1 million new jobs. Many of these jobs must be performed locally and cannot be offshored. However, it will take a concerted effort to ensure that America's workforce is well-trained for the new energy economy, that these jobs are good jobs, and that the economic opportunity is broadly shared. Today, Edwards outlined his "Green Collar Jobs" initiative to train and employ at least 150,000 workers a year in new energy economy jobs. He will dedicate 50,000 Stepping Stone jobs—subsidized employment that form part of Edwards' anti-poverty plan—to energy-related occupations. In addition, the Green Collar Jobs training initiative will work with employers, unions, community colleges and high schools to prepare and engage the next generation of workers.

New Energy Economy, New Opportunities

The New Energy Economy Needs Workers: Nationwide standards and significant increases in research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon emissions control will spur new economic activity and create over 1 million new jobs. Already, "clean tech" has become the hottest new area of venture capital funding. Edwards' investments in renewable fuels will generate new jobs in rural America farming, processing and transporting biofuels. His national 25 percent renewable electricity standard can reenergize America's manufacturing sector with increased demand for wind turbines, solar panels and biomass engines. His emphasis on distributed generation will drive consumers and businesses to new businesses that can market, install, and service on-site power production. To freeze our demand for electricity, workers will be needed to design, construct, weatherize and retrofit energy-efficient buildings and homes. Many of these jobs must be done locally. [Newsweek, 6/21/2006; Apollo Alliance, 2007]

Green Collar Jobs Will Require New Skills: Without a major strategy to prepare America's workforce for these new jobs, the new energy economy will be slow to take off, and the climate cannot wait. Experts have already anticipated a dire skills shortage: the National Renewable Energy Lab concluded that insufficient skills and training are major barriers to the rapid adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The existing energy industry is getting older and half of current utility workers will retire within the next decade. Unfortunately, there has been no major effort to work with businesses and unions to identify the needed skills, create certification and training programs, and connect job-seekers to new energy economy jobs. [NREL, 2007; APPA, 2007]

American Workers Need Better Jobs: The nation has over 1 million long-term unemployed adults. In the first few months of 2007 alone, 640,000 workers were affected by mass layoffs. In urban centers and rural towns, hundreds of thousands of youth are out of school and out of work. And one in every four American workers holds a low-wage job with few benefits and little hope for advancement. [BLS, 2007; USA Today, 7/14/2006; CSS, 2007; Shulman, 2003]

The Edwards Plan to Build Skills for Green Collar Jobs

Linking the New Energy Economy, Workers and Good Jobs: The Green Collar Jobs training initiative will connect over 150,000 workers a year with skills certification and living wage jobs in the new energy economy, meeting the industry's need for qualified workers. States, businesses, labor unions, community groups and educators will train and employ new energy economy workers together. Green Collar Jobs grants will help partnerships create training curricula and certificate programs. They will also support partnerships' efforts to recruit, train and place participants: unemployed workers, community college students, veterans, and others seeking a way to build their skills for the new economy. Successful labor-management partnerships like these exist in many sectors and regions of the United States: states use economic development incentives to attract high-road employers in a specific industry, and employer associations or joint labor-management programs develop training programs and hire local job-seekers. [Ella Baker Center, 2007; Fitzgerald, 2006]

Working with Businesses and Unions: The best job training and workforce development programs have the full involvement of employers and labor organizations. Industry groups and unions will help analyze necessary job competencies and develop curricula and provide training. As a result, the resulting credentials will be transferable and have real value in the workplace. Employers and unions may also participate by sharing their expertise as trainers and educators. [AECF, 2004]
Working with Community Colleges: Community and technical colleges provide important vocational and education services to 11 million students a year, but their curriculum is often disconnected from industry needs. The Green Collar Jobs grants will encourage community colleges to partner with businesses and unions to develop new energy economy education curricula that can be used by any students seeking to improve their job skills at community colleges, as well as direct participants in the training program. [AACC, 2006, Fitzgerald, 2006]
Creating Career Academies in High Schools: The new energy economy will produce many skills-intensive jobs requiring solid foundations in math and science. In addition to improving math and science education in America's public schools nationwide, Edwards will support a network of Green Career Academies in high schools. Career academies are small learning communities within high schools that use a college preparatory curriculum with a career theme and engage employers, unions, and local colleges to participate. John Edwards will encourage the next generation of career academies across the country, building on the curricula designed by the Green Collar Jobs partnerships. [MDRC, 2005]

Lending a Hand Up with Green Collar Stepping Stone Jobs: Many willing workers cannot find jobs because of the place they live, a lack of skills, experience, and references, or other obstacles like a criminal record. Up to 18 percent of former welfare recipients do not have a job. Too many welfare-to-work and employment service programs have slotted people into easily available jobs with low pay, few benefits, and no room for advancement. Edwards will create 50,000 government-subsidized Green Collar Stepping Stone jobs for hard-to-serve job-seekers. Green Collar Stepping Stone jobs will not be dead-end jobs. Workers will receive on-the-job training and work toward a training credential. Studies have shown that skills certification programs are critical for lower-skilled workers' efforts to move up. Employers who hire Stepping Stone graduates and offer living wages and benefits will be eligible for existing Work Opportunity Tax Credits and given preference in public contracts. [Turner, Danziger and Seefeldt, 2006; Osterman, 2005; Urban Institute, 2007]