Growing a Green Collar Workforce
Over the next two decades, New York City will become home to
an anticipated one million new residents. But New York City's
stretched and aging infrastructure, overburdened electrical grid,
and limited open space are not even meeting current needs.
Add to this the effects of global warming, which could put further
strain on these resources, and the steady intensifying of long-standing
problems such as income inequality, lack of affordable housing,
joblessness, rising illness rates caused by pollution, and the
challenges are significant.
These challenges do not exist in isolation - economic inequalities
and environmental degradation are interconnected. As we address
environmental problems, tremendous opportunities exist to simultaneously
advance economic justice and prosperity across the city. One important
way to do this is growing a green collar workforce - one that
will spur transition not only to a greener, but also healthier
and more socially equitable New York City.
Over the past year, New York City has taken bold steps to address
pressing environmental problems - steps to confront the threat
of global warming, plan for future energy use, and improve our
infrastructure to accommodate new residents. On Earth Day 2007,
Mayor Bloomberg announced PlaNYC
2030, a set of 127 legislative and policy initiatives
designed to create a 'greener, greater New York'. The Plan seeks
to tackle the effects of climate change and improve New York's
urban environment, in order to support long-term growth and economic
development, and secure a better quality of life for New Yorkers.
PlaNYC 2030 and other City sustainability initiatives are expected
to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs - green jobs - demanding
a well-trained, green collar workforce. At the same time, because
green jobs also carry the potential to be quality jobs - ones
that provide family-sustaining wages, benefits, and chances for
career advancement - they could offer pathways out of poverty
for the jobless and underemployed in low-income communities.
Growing a green collar workforce offers an unprecedented
opportunity to address environmental sustainability
demands, and create good jobs that can help improve
communities traditionally unjustly burdened by
environmental injustices.
Fact Sheet: Growing
Green Collar Jobs (PDF)
Urban Agenda's Role
Urban Agenda is working to connect labor unions, environmentalists
and environmental justice advocates, businesses, educators, and
community organizations together around the need to respond to
climate change, while simultaneously seizing opportunities to
improve the socio-economic situation for New Yorkers in the transition
to a clean energy economy.
As convener of the NYC Apollo Alliance, Urban
Agenda is well-placed to do this. The NYC
Apollo Alliance is part of a bold national
movement that links job creation, environmental
stewardship, and energy independence led by the
national Apollo
Alliance. Based on the firm belief that the
future of our city depends on a broad coalition
working together to achieve positive social, economic,
and environmental goals, NYC Apollo works to reframe
political dialogue, build alliances, and advocate
for public policy that effectively promotes energy
efficiency, alternative energy, good jobs, economic
development, and environmental equity.
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Green Collar Jobs Roundtable Campaign
In June 2008, Urban Agenda initiated a multi-stakeholder campaign
called the Green Collar Jobs Roundtable to mobilize the City to
prepare New Yorkers for green jobs. The Roundtable is an attempt
to address a key challenge: the gap between job seekers and green
jobs.
The Roundtable is tapping the collective knowledge
of green employers, unions, workforce development
providers, and environmental justice groups, to
chart a Green Collar Jobs Roadmap — a shared
agenda with targeted recommendations on expanding
green collar training and certification, meeting
green employers' needs and building an inclusive
green economy. The Roadmap will be shared with
mayoral and city council candidates in the 2009
election, to mobilize and direct the city to create
a workforce development plan for green jobs.
Read More
Growing Green Collar Jobs Research
To analyze and inform efforts to grow a green collar workforce,
Urban Agenda publishes action research on the emerging green economy.
This research examines existing jobs, opportunities for job growth,
and factors limiting development in green sectors.
In 2007, we published Growing
Green Collar Jobs: Energy Efficiency - examining job opportunities
and challenges in one of New York City's largest, fastest growing
and most promising sectors: improving energy efficiency in existing
buildings. The report analyses the jobs necessary to upgrade,
maintain and manage energy efficiency in the built environment,
as well as offers an advocacy agenda of specific, practical, policy
and program recommendations to make the City more sustainable.
Growing Green Collar Jobs: Energy Efficiency
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