Youth Find Hope in Economic Climate Shift

An estimated 10,000 young people descended on Washington over the weekend to press lawmakers to take action on climate change and to support the burgeoning green economy. The four-day conference known as Powershift 09 culminates today with a keynote address by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a day of lobbying Congress members on issues ranging from reducing carbon emissions to creating green jobs.

Young people working toward building a green economy received a promising boost from the recent passage of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan, which includes $15 billion a year to develop alternative energy and $500 million for green job-training programs.

Juan Reynosa, 27, who traveled to DC from New Mexico, will be testifying before Congress today about the work he is doing to create green jobs on both the state and local level. According to Reynosa, as a community organizer working with New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO), bringing green jobs to his state, which is entrenched in the industries of oil, gas, uranium mining and coal, is not easy.

"In New Mexico we get at least 80 percent of our revenues from oil and gas and we don't have any campaign contribution limits, so there's a lot of lobbyists for oil and gas industries up in our legislature right now that have a lot of prowess and money," said Reynosa.

But to Reynosa, who sees green job-training programs as having the potential to take youth off the streets and reduce crime, the green jobs speak for themselves: "It's a lot of work when you are trying to push something different, but if we show the legislators that our programs are successful we can get more money for them and we can show them that green jobs support our economy and bring in jobs, and the legislators will have no choice but to support it."

The mechanics of building a green energy program in Albuquerque, according to Reynosa, involve knowing what green sectors are creating demand for jobs, getting money for green training programs from the city and investing this funding into community colleges whose curriculum focuses on preparing students for the jobs in demand.

NMYO is also working with a coalition of groups to bring three pieces of green job legislation to the state of New Mexico. One of the pieces of legislation will create a statewide green job-training program, but the other two are focused on creating incentives for green businesses.

"We need to bring in more green businesses because one of the difficulties with this bill is that if you want to train people and get them ready for jobs, you have to make sure there are jobs available. We are trying to cover both bases," said Reynosa.

Both the stimulus plan and the green job legislation in New Mexico recognize that in order for green jobs to flourish, the federal and state government are going to have to begin supporting green industries the same way that they have been helping the current energy industries.

"Green jobs haven't had the support from the state and federal government that the oil, gas and uranium industries have had," said Reynosa. "These guys get tons of incentives and tax breaks and that's the reason why they have gotten so huge and are dominating the energy industry," said Reynosa.

Green job-training programs are happening all around the country, according to Julian Mocine-McQueen, a field organizer for Green For All. He said that from New Bedford, Massachusetts, where youth have been participating in the job-training program, Youth Build, to Richmond, California, where young people have benefited from a solar installation company's collaboration with the city, green job-training programs are currently in motion.

"We are building the plane while we are flying it," said Mocine-McQueen on the momentum of the shifting green economy. "These are all moving pieces and they need to move together. But, there is already so much going on; it's all there for us; we just need to put it together in a timely fashion."

Mocine-McQueen said that he hopes participants in Powershift 09 are talking to the their representatives about ensuring that the stimulus money is going to communities that need the help.

Mocine-McQueen said that it is a top priority for Green For All that fair hiring practices are used by companies receiving government funding from the stimulus and that local citizens are given job-training programs so they can take advantage of new green jobs in their communities.

"There are billions of dollars that are going to be invested in this and we need to understand it and go back to our communities ready to work for it, and ask the right questions and make sure it works for us," said Mocine-McQueen.

Carolyn Mansfield of Bright Green Talent, a green sector recruitment firm, said that aside from funding from the stimulus bill, changes in environmental policy would have a strong influence on how the green job sector grows.

If the Environmental Protection Agency begins regulating carbon dioxide emissions, which President Obama voiced support for in his recent speech to Congress, the demand for jobs at carbon offsetting companies will rise, according to Mansfield. In addition, carbon markets, such as the Chicago Climate Exchange will spur demand for carbon finance positions.

Despite the strong potential for growth in the green job sector, Mansfield said that current green jobs have not been spared from hiring freezes and cutbacks from the reeling economy.

 However, Mansfield predicts that once Obama's economic recovery plan takes effect, it should rejuvenate the sector soon: "A lot of the stimulus money will be going towards greening projects and we are hoping that will start to open up in a few months when green businesses start growing again."

In order to support the green job field, Mansfield said that Bright Green Talent not only recruits college educated professionals, but invests a portion of their profits into nonprofits and training programs that are making sure everyone is on board the new green economy.

"There needs to be a socioeconomically-inclusive move towards a green economy," said Mansfield. "We are making sure everyone is on board with us and that it's not just something that's going to one section of the population, because if that's the case then it's really not going to achieve the social and economic goals that it needs to."