Green Jobs for All
In January, leaders from around New Mexico met to discuss building a green economy in the state. There was consensus that the state needs a collaborative to leverage Federal funds and encourage private investment for green jobs. The Federal government has signaled that priority in funding will go to states that have an existing infrastructure to implement training programs for green industries. The NM Green Collaborative is working to create this infrastructure.
The full structure and implementation plan for the Collaborative is currently being established. Please let us know if you would like to join the collaborative or would like to refer someone that you think would be a good fit. Although this is a State-wide effort, the implementation will be done on the community level, so please spread the word to local constituencies that you feel could work together to develop a green network in your community.
The green economy can create job opportunities for low-income and disadvantaged populations.
A shift to clean energy can improve the health and well-being of low-income people, who suffer disproportionately from cancer, asthma and other respiratory ailments in our dirty-energy economy. More and more young people are getting involved in raising awareness about green jobs created through renewable energy industries:
Such a shift can create entrepreneurial, wealth-building opportunities for those who need new avenues of economic advance.
In other words: a national effort to curb global warming and oil dependence can simultaneously create good jobs, safer streets, and healthier communities.
For us, our highest calling is to ensure that the clean-energy economy in the 21st century in fact does all of these things. We believe that America’s chief moral obligation is to build a green economy that is strong enough to lift many people out of poverty.
But that will happe
n only if we make sure that the very people who have been locked out of the old, grey economy are locked into the new, green one. We must provide equal access to the opportunities and benefits of the new economy.
Some will call this unrealistic. They will advise America to keep her dreams small. But that cynicism is the problem, not the solution.
A national commitment to “green-collar jobs” will help this nation to simultaneously address our economic, ecological and moral crise
s.
