Do you have no idea what you want to do after you bid farewell to the plush President's Lawn and wrought-iron gates of Tufts? Don't worry - there are plenty of opportunities in the field of efficient and renewable energy. In fact, eight million people are employed in energy efficiency, as well as 450,000 people in renewable energy, in the United States alone.
A recent nationwide survey of 7,718 American workers ages 18 years and older reported a less-than-ideal account of employee satisfaction. According to the survey by Harris Interactive for Age Wave, "more than half of American workers question the basic morality of their organizations' top leaders and said that their managers do not treat them fairly." Only 45 percent of workers report being satisfied, and 12 percent report being extremely satisfied with their jobs.
I know the ideal job can seem pretty impossible sometimes. And yes, we all have to make compromises. I'm coming to accept that I might not become the rock-star drummer, part-time veterinarian and weekend crepe chef I once aspired to be. But working for an environmentally responsible organization is something that we should not be willing to compromise. A survey of young workers reports that 80 percent would prefer a job that has a positive impact on the environment, and a large 92 percent would choose to work for an environmentally friendly company.
Green jobs are not only good for the planet, but also tend to establish good employer-employee relationships and positive worker morale. Of course, there are exceptions, but even if your environmentalist boss is a jerk, at least you'll have the fulfilling feeling of coming home each night from a job that is helping, not hurting, the necessary task of undoing the damage of global warming.
One often-overlooked truth is that the transition to a clean-energy economy is an opportunity for big business to make money in the long run. Not only could this move benefit environmentally aware college graduates like us, but it also creates a huge employment opportunity for working-class Americans.
Van Jones, civil rights lawyer and founder and executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, recognizes this opportunity better than anyone in his "Green Jobs, Not Jail" campaign. He and the Ella Baker Center worked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007, which will provide $120 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in "green-collar jobs."
Based in Oakland, Calif., the Oakland Apollo Alliance is a coalition of organized labor, environmentalists, higher education systems, social justice activists and businesses with a common goal: to create jobs in a modern energy economy and, as a result, to stimulate and strengthen underprivileged communities while improving the environment. The alliance proposes the adoption of two new policies to the City Council of Oakland: to fund a "Green Economic Development Plan" and to establish the Oakland Green Jobs Corps.
Integral to the movement are youth training programs, which would teach green-collar job skills for the future, like solar-panel installation, wastewater reclamation, organic food production, material re-use, recycling and the development of greater energy efficiency. Another idea in the works between the Apollo Alliance and the Campus Climate Challenge is the creation of a "Clean Energy Jobs Corps," like the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps - but devoted to modifying the economy and, essentially, reinventing it based on a clean energy infrastructure.
Jones and others have perceived the frequent disconnect between the environmentalist campaign and the movement to combat social inequality, addressing concerns of low-income workers and those without a steady income at all. It's easy to understand the division between eco-elitism (on one extreme side of environmentalism) and a struggling low-income youth. A common ground often feels unreachable, as there is seemingly little that allows the two groups to relate or understand one another. But Jones explains the tactic for joining those with privilege and those without: "For people who have a lot of crisis already, they don't want to hear about another big crisis. They've got sick parents, no health care, all that kind of stuff - they don't want to hear about it. The rhetoric has to change. For people with a bunch of opportunity, you tell them about the crisis. For people with a bunch of crisis, you tell about the opportunities ... You've got to engage the majority of people on terms they understand and they're excited about."
It is time to see environmentalism as a counter to American poverty instead of as a discouraging or fatalist complaint. And in turn, green job opportunities stimulate the economy and further equality while addressing drastic climate issues. The issue, then, isn't only environmental sustainability, but the creation of a sustainable economy as well.
On Tuesday, U.S. Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), members of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming appointed by Speaker Pelosi, held the special hearing "Economic Impacts of Global Warming: Green Collar Jobs." Jones provided testimony at this hearing in which Solis directly addressed the opportunity for environmentalism to aid economic problems: "We must ensure both that workers are skilled on this new technology and that this technology presents a pathway out of poverty for our nation's unskilled workforce and underserved communities."
Without getting into hair-splitting distinctions, the term "green-collar job" can apply across both of its collar-color predecessors. It can refer to employment that would clearly identify with the "blue-collar" label, such as solar installation or retrofitting buildings to be more energy-efficient. But it can also apply to "white-collar" work including engineering, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance and more.
So if you're one of the 92 percent who wants to contribute to the global warming solution, now is the right time. Check out the Environmental and Energy Study Institute's comprehensive fact sheet that explores the increasing trend of renewable energy and energy-efficient jobs and links you to said major organizations. And don't forget to come hear Van Jones speak in our very own Cohen Auditorium on Earth Day, this coming Tuesday, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., sponsored by Tufts Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning.
Lucy McKeon is a sophomore majoring in English.
