GREEN JOBS CORPS

Growing excitement, expectations for green jobs corps
John D. Sutter, March 2, 2009 (CNN)

"When Rita Bryer sees 300-foot-tall wind turbines sprouting up from the prairie near her home in western Oklahoma, she can't help but wonder about the view from the top, where blades the size of semi-trucks spin [so]…She's going back to school to become a wind turbine mechanic -- one who'll have to scale the turbines to make repairs.

"Across the country, people like Bryer are looking to the renewable energy sector in hopes its "green-collar jobs" will offer them stability in this shaky economy. Some are signing up for community college or apprenticeship programs that train students to be wind turbine mechanics, solar panel installers, fuel-cell engineers or energy efficiency experts."

Commanding heights, 1 (click to enlarge)

"Government support has rallied excitement for the prospect of a green jobs corps, as President Obama's stimulus package puts about $20 billion into greening the economy…he's calling on a new class of workers to be trained in environmental fields. Green jobs training programs will get $500 million from the stimulus…Vice President Joe Biden said…the clean-energy jobs pay 10 to 20 percent more than similar work outside the field… a maker of energy-efficient windows [in Chicago] intends to gradually rehire 250 workers who were laid off when their window company closed late last year...There is a "very direct" correlation between the stimulus package and Serious Materials' ability to reopen the plant…

"…Wind and solar companies have cut staff and stalled new projects as the credit crisis has tied up money, meaning banks are less able to invest in renewable energy…In the short term, that will make things difficult for the newly trained green work force…Within a year or so… the graduates [will] be able to find plenty of green jobs…[S]ome schools that train the green-collar work force are billing their programs as near-guaranteed ways to find stable jobs."

Commanding heights, 2 (click to enlarge)

"Some green jobs are low-tech and require little or no specialized training…Some weatherization steps are as simple as shoving newspaper insulation in a home's attic, caulking windows and repairing ductwork…More than $11 billion of the economic stimulus package is intended to help people make their homes more energy efficient…

"…High Plains Technology Center in Woodward, Oklahoma…where Bryer is taking classes, is offering a wind turbine technician program for the first time this year…Bryer said she doesn't know how much money she'll make in the wind business. She doesn't much care…The woman who's always been seen as a rebel because she was the lone female working tough jobs in the oil fields now feels like she's part of a movement for change."