Joy Clarke-Holmes
Johnson Controls
An event being held in Pittsburgh March 13-14 is the first I’ve seen that focus entirely on what truly has become the buzz phrase of 2008: Green Collar Jobs.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs: A National Green Jobs Conference is promoted as an event that “will bring together national leaders and advocates to share the best thinking about the link between economic opportunity and environmental solutions.” I’ll be speaking Friday, March 14 at 8:45 AM, and I’m looking forward to an exciting session.
First of all, what’s a green collar job? I haven’t found a single definition for it, and if you have one please share it, but it generally includes elements of what is in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, recently passed by Congress, which provides support for people in these areas:
- the energy-efficient building, construction, and retrofits industries
- the renewable electric power industry
- the energy efficient and advanced drive train vehicle industry
- the biofuels industry
- the deconstruction and materials use industries
- the energy efficiency assessment industry serving the residential, commercial, or industrial sectors
- manufacturers that produce sustainable products using environmentally sustainable processes and materials
The term “Green Collar” actually was first brought up at a 1976 Congressional hearing, when university professor Patrick Heffernan, delivered his paper, “Jobs for the Environment — The Coming Green Collar Revolution.”
There was quite a lull in the conversation about the connection between the environment and job creation until organizations such as the Apollo Alliance (launched by the Institute for America’s Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy) and the Blue Green Alliance (led by the United Steelworkers and Sierra Club) recognized the powerful economic force that could be created.
These days, presidential candidates refer to green collar jobs as part of their platform addressing environmental issues and mayors look to green collar jobs as a means of attracting high-tech companies to their cities.
Even more important – green collar businesses are attracting new, young workers who have an environmental ethic and older, seasoned workers who are eager to be retrained in growing fields.
At the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference, I look forward to meeting other participants to share best practices, advocate more political solutions and encourage investment in green collar industries and energy efficiency projects.
Pittsburgh in March? It will never look so green.
Joy Clarke-Holmes is the Director of Local Government & Metro Markets Solutions Sales for Johnson Controls, Inc. She manages marketing and sales operations for hundreds of municipal customers across the United States for Johnson Controls, a global leader in creating infrastructure improvements with economic impact.
Joy also represents Johnson Controls in several national organizations, including the National Association of Counties, International City/County Management Association, National League of Cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
In addition to her 25 years of business experience, Joy is involved in many civic organizations. She has a BS in Education from the City College of New York and is a graduate of the Management Institute at the University of Southern California.
