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Friday, February 20, 2009

The Proliferation of Green Jobs

The sustainability revolution is coming! Where do I stand? Where do you stand? Where do we stand?

A gajillion, million, bazillion dollars are now being circulated throughout the United States of America to help stimulate the economy and create jobs. I'm pulling for the "green" job increases and to be honest, I'm already starting to see a bit of a pick up in the talk and excitement in Massachusetts surrounding sustainable industries. Check out this article in the Boston Globe to see what I'm talking about.

Stimulus expectations run high

So, what kind of green jobs are we talking here? Green construction? Solar panel installers? Wind turbine technicians (or as I call them, trapeze artists)? Green non-profits? Green government contracts? Green street sweepers?

A year ago I was just another environmental enthusiast who wanted nothing more than to see a social and economic transformation to a cleaner, healthier economy and way of living. I wanted quite badly to work in the field of "green" business. I never got an engineering degree, never got an environmental science degree and I never got a business degree. I simply am a good writer who's good with technology and has a very small learning curve. I put myself out there repeatedly and almost, I mean almost got a few really cool jobs for solar and wind power companies. I'm not working in a sustainable industry at the moment, but I find myself in the midst of a revolutionary period, one that I've been waiting for.

Do I still want my professional future to lie in "green" or sustainable business? You bet your pants I do. But I ask, where do I belong? Where can I put my skills to use? Who needs me?

You should ask yourself these questions as well. This will be the biggest economic boom that my generation (Gen Y) will likely ever see in our lifetime. I don't want to call it a bubble. How could infrastructure and renewable energy development cause an economic bubble? It won't. This is our new direction. This will be an economic freight train. Get on or get out of the way!

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