Green Collar Jobs Still an Answer to Employment Crisis

By Tay Yoshitani

CEO, Port of Seattle

The most recent government employment reports have been disappointing because they show a profound lack of job creation on the part of the private sector.

In addition to calling the health of the overall U.S. economy into question, many analysts say that the latest data raise troubling issues about the viability of clean technology as a positive force for 21st-century prosperity. After all, we’ve been told repeatedly that legions of new green-collar jobs will materialize and generate growth for communities all across the nation.

Right now, two-thirds of all green collar jobs in America are in the energy conservation and pollution mitigation area, but capital is rapidly moving into clean energy, energy efficiency, and environmentally friendly products and services. Meanwhile, many existing blue-collar jobs that truly matter to families and communities all across the country are turning green.

These are the next waves of the green-collar job revolution. And, if we’re fortunate and far-sighted, I believe that this revolution can lift our nation higher — much higher — as it reaches for even greater prosperity in the decades to come.

I believe the analysts are wrong; my view remains that the creation and proliferation of well-paying green-collar jobs in America will ultimately help us address the biggest employment crisis since the Great Depression.

Read his full article at Port of Seattle.