What are the facts?

· In a report releases June 10^th 2009, it found that green jobs we growing at rate twice as fast as any other employment.

· From 1998 to 2007 the rate was 9.1% or 75,000 jobs in Canada.  In 2008 80% of the venture capital investments were in the clean energy and energy field.

· The US stimulus plan ear marked $85Billion to growing the Green Economy.

· Last year California hd around 1% of its workforce were considered Green Jobs

· Challenger, Gray & Christmas predicts North America will create 1.5 million new green jobs each year through to 2030 and rival the dot.com boom of the late 1990’s.

Green Collar Economy

First coined by Patrick Heffernan in, “Jobs for the Environment — The Coming Green Collar Revolution“used to describe who is employed in the environmental sectors of the economy to satisfy the demand for green development.  The term came to be referred to as the segment of jobs that encompassed those professions that designed and produced alternative energy, green buildings and carbon reducing work. Positions like Solar Engineers, LEED Architects & Engineers, Hybrid Vehicle designers, Software Developers working in efficiency systems and sales people selling products and services. Also includes any business owner of a green business. 

More recently is has included trades people who are involved in installation and maintenance of the product and services that are energy efficiency projects, green buildings, and carbon reduction projects. This would include electricians installing solar panels, plumbers installing geothermal systems, technicians maintaining wind famers and project managers greening buildings.   Some people have including organic farmers and tree planters.