Illustration by Erika Schneider "It's time to bail out the people and the planet," says Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. We agree, and this guide to to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.
Farmer
America has only two million farmers, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers -- up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.
Schools: University of Vermont: Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Stone Barns Center For Food & Agriculture in New York State; University of Oklahoma: Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Evergreen State College: degree in Sustainable Agriculture.
Related careers: urban gardener; farmers market and CSA coordinator; artisanal cheesemakers; and other food producers.
Forester
Modern forestry is a complex combination of international project finance, conservation and development. According to the World Bank, a staggering 1.6 billion people depend on the forest for their livelihoods. Foresters help local people transition from slash-and-burn to silviculture--teaching cultivation of higher-value, faster-growing species for fruit, medicine or timber, for example while carefully documenting the impact on the environment. Deforestation, which causes around a quarter of all global warming, is also likely to be a leading source of carbon credits worth tens of billions of dollars.
Schools: Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Duke University: Nicholas School of the Environment; University of Michigan: School of Natural Resources & Environment.
Companies/organizations: The Nature Conservancy; New Forests Inc.
Solar Power Installer
Making and installing solar power systems already accounts for some 770,000 jobs globally. Installing solar-thermal water heaters and rooftop photovoltaic cells is a relatively high-paying job--$15 to $35 an hour--for those with construction skills. And opportunities are available all over the United States, wherever the sun shines. Currently over 3,400 companies in the solar energy sector employ 25,000 to 35,000 workers. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts an increase to over 110,000 jobs by 2016 -- even more if anticipated tax credits are accelerated.
Companies: Akeena Solar; Sungevity; Sunpower; Full list at SEIA.org.
Energy Efficiency Builder Buildings account for up to 48 percent of US energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. LEED, the major green building certification, has over 43,000 accredited professionals. But the cutting edge in efficient buildings goes far beyond LEED. Buildings constructed according to Passivhaus and MINERGIE-P standards in Germany and Switzerland, respectively, use between 75% and 95% less heat energy than a similar building constructed to the latest codes in the US. Greening the US building stock will take not only skilled architects and engineers, but a workforce of retrofitters who can use spray foam insulation and storm windows to massively improve the R-value (thermal resistance) of the draftiest old houses. A study by the Apollo Alliance recommended an $89.9 billion investment in financing to create 827,260 jobs in green buildings -- an initiative supported by the Obama stimulus package, which specifically mentions energy retrofits.
Schools: Arizona State University School of Architecture: Energy Performance Climate-Responsive Architecture; University of Michigan: Alfred A. Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning; The Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Wind Turbine Fabricator
Wind is the leading and fastest-growing source of alternative energy with over 300,000 jobs worldwide. Turbines are 90% metal by weight, creating an opportunity for autoworkers and other manufacturers to repurpose their skills. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the industry currently employs some 50,000 Americans and added 10,000 new jobs in 2007. Their job board is an excellent place to start looking for opportunities.
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Recent Comments | 20 Total
January 29, 2009 at 10:36am by Katie Wilson
Truly a more sustainable approach to the employment and the economy is important for our common future. No one is better able to create fast and flexible ways of approaching the challenges that lay ahead than entrepreneurs. I noticed that all the MBA programs listed are on the Westcoast and I wanted to bring a great program to your attention: The Marlboro MBA in Managing for Sustainability located in Brattleboro, VT. The program takes the triple-bottom line approach throughout the entire curriculum rather than just adding on a few courses here and there in sustainable business practices. It also emphasizes systems thinking in our communities, environment, and business. If you are looking for a transformative program east of the Mississippi check out: www.gradcenter.marlboro.edu/mba
January 30, 2009 at 12:51pm by Mary Graham
Tools and training for Passive House are available through the Passive House Institute - US at www.passivehouse.us. They also maintain a list of certified consultants.
Despite the name, the Passive House standards can be used for non-residential buildings, too.
January 30, 2009 at 1:34pm by Ken Smith
Renewable energy jobs grew rapidly in the past 3 years.
Renewable energy isn’t just good for our environment — it’s good for our economy, too. In this difficult economy, renewable energy has been much more stable than many other industries. In fact, renewable energy continues to create jobs. Just take a look at renewable energy’s explosive growth over the past three years:
http://www.buildbabybuild.net/blog/renewable-energy-jobs-growing-rapidly...
January 31, 2009 at 1:05pm by Robert Stein
One critical job left off of this list is executive recruiter. In addition to the heightened need for recruiters to find green-job candidates to fill new positions, the actual process of executive recruiting is relatively green too. Phone, electronic mail, digital documents, videoconferencing and more. With maximum growth in this sector, executive recruiters will be prosperous if they can evolve to approach this new function/industry.
February 1, 2009 at 3:56pm by David Arthur
I'm happy to see that both Green Builder and Solar Installer made this list. Green building retrofitting and small scale alternative energy installation are not only areas of employment opportunity, but also areas of strong small business opportunity. The need for small companies who have the background and skills to serve the growing demand for efficiency, small solar, and small wind is only going to grow. This is particularly true as government incentive programs strengthen under the new administration. www.GreenBusinessOwner.com
February 21, 2009 at 8:58pm by Michael Podemski
Check out this story about green jobs!
February 25, 2009 at 7:32pm by Montana Tracy
All about us ...
March 8, 2009 at 11:17am by Susanna Schick
yaaay! I'm in the top 10. I was getting really nervous on the first page. I didn't just spend $80,000 on tuition to become a farmer....
March 18, 2009 at 5:52pm by matthew savage
There's so much buzz about green jobs, and yet, with so many people pursuing these jobs in a still-nascent industry, it can seem like they're few and far between. We just launched a career coaching service if anyone is interested. We feel we have a pretty good pulse on the latest trends. To learn more or sign up, please visit www.brightgreentalent.com/career-coaching.
As always, we’re happy to help :)
April 4, 2009 at 3:54pm by Ken Smith
New study shows that 300,000 jobs will be created if a renewable energy standard is adopted. Story at: www.buildbabybuild.net
May 1, 2009 at 2:32pm by kevin lockett
I found quite a few of these positions on a Ohio Green jobs site: www.hirejam.com
May 5, 2009 at 8:41pm by Carolina Reyna
I did some research to see what's available in these categories on our job search engine which is coming out of beta soon. Some of the categories such as Farmer appear difficult to find online. Here are some shortcuts to the categories with a reasonable number of open positions: wind jobs, urban planning jobs, sustainability
jobs, recycling jobs, conserv
ation biologist jobs, energy
efficiency jobs. This is a really awful time to be looking for any sort of work - keep the faith if you are looking! -Carolina, JustJobs.com
May 7, 2009 at 2:03pm by kevin moss
This is a great list and an important one. But we should all also be aware that the environment is not going to be saved just by jobs that carry a green label any more than our economy depends only on people with 'finance' in their job title. It is going to be saved by all of us incorporating sustainability principles into our everyday jobs. Everyone has a green collar on their 'uniform'.
May 12, 2009 at 5:53pm by Angela McClowry
I am from the referenced company under Sustainability Systems Developer, open-sustainability.org , I just recently left my environmental consulting job to get the site going. It’s nice to get some reassurance that it was a good move. We are in the early stages of developing a framework for sustainability targeted at a corporate level. Would love any contributions to get us going! Thanks
May 12, 2009 at 6:39pm by Eric Shannon
We just launched our environmental jobs search engine. Happy to do reciprocal links with anyone in the business...
May 27, 2009 at 2:01pm by Eric Shannon
One of the things making it difficult to land any job today is that more and more people are searching in the same places. As it turns out, "environmental jobs" is one of the top 100 most searched jobs keywords! Yes, you should use one of the largest general-purpose job boards and a job search engine. But also consider using established niche job boards... the 2009 guide to the top 100 job site niches may be helpful there. It relies on my 12 years of experience running a top niche job board and dozens of hours of research.
Eric Shannon
President, LatPro, Inc.
LatPro.com | DiversityJobs.com
June 25, 2009 at 1:07am by adam must
Must say a gr8 aticle to start the New Year with.It stimulates self-motivation in reader.It carves out the framework to make the YOU brand a real success starting from understanding YOU as a brand then to visibiity-word of mouth,Project world,win win logic,feedback concept and career as a checkboard having lot of possibilities.I am gonna reflect on all these to encash its value.
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June 25, 2009 at 1:08am by adam must
The only exception would have to be Fiji water, which includes dissolved minerals. While we should never get allot of hard minerals in our water, in nature, one would NEVER find water devoid of any trace minerals . Our bodies are better able to absorb trace minerals from water than contains it and so companies like Fiji that include trace minerals will always have customers regardless of what the government does.
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July 3, 2009 at 3:39am by Tom Naile
Seems like the new "Green Movement" will open doors to a lot of professions. But what about those who would be losing jobs because of specialization in the carbon emitting industries??
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July 6, 2009 at 5:40pm by Robert Johnson
sustainability centered careers are sure to rise with President Obama's emphasis on growing green jobs. I think MBA's with a concentration in the green economy will see a sharp rise in that skill set.
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