Educating U.S. Workforce Critical to Green Technology Job Growth

October 3, 2011 in Green News, U.S., Green Stories with 64 Comments

Green Technology, Jobs

Investing in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education - Source: WhiteHouse.gov

Amidst the rapid growth of US Green Technology Jobs surging to the forefront in all kinds of niches including Solar, Wind, Architecture and Automotive, one thing is certain: America needs highly trained skilled workers to succeed in winning the war on unemployment and securing a competitive workforce in the global marketplace.

For all the naysayer news reporting that there aren’t enough green jobs to make enough of a dent, or that stimulus funds haven’t proven adequate to result in positive change, it’s important to remember that we’re still just getting started on this path toward clean technologies and sustainable business practices. We’ve got a long road ahead and education must play a critical part.

While not all jobs are shovel ready and more Americans need training, this is a perfect opportunity for us turn around a lemon-like jobs economy that will not only lead us to drink in some refreshing lemonade by creating new high quality employment for the millions out of work, but also help usher in a cleaner environment for our future with better air to breathe and lower energy costs.

In fact, the Department of Energy recently stated in a new September 2011 report that manufacturing Electric Vehicles is even more important than all other green technology in order for the US to kick its reliance on oil-based internal combustion engines for the sake of our national security! Knowing all the above, we really need to kick our national green education platform into gear.

One such organization that’s already gotten the message about helping to reinvent and retrain folks is Clean Tech Institute headquartered in Fremont, California with additional state offices in Moffett Field and Orange, California. The institute has been offering qualified candidates an intensive training program in Garden Grove to become Certified Electric Vehicle Technicians through a partnership with the Orange County Workforce Investment Board.

The criteria for entering the above curriculum are very stringent, requiring at least an Associate Arts degree and minimum 7 years of working in the industrial and manufacturing environment plus some additional qualifications such as US employment eligibility and passing an assessment test. (Here is where my “Knowledge = Power” catch phrase is especially appropriate.)

Indeed, it is the development of the above and similar educational programs that will inevitably reduce the horrendous unemployment and underemployment we’re now experiencing in America. And it’s also up to every individual to learn the lesson from President Obama’s original campaign mantra “Yes We Can” by saying “Yes I Can!”

Hopefully more programs like this will start popping up nationally and these organizations will work with the US Departments of Labor, State Employment Development Offices, and especially the Automotive Industry which is surely going to see more dramatic changes manufacturing and servicing processes in the near future. There are millions of mechanics currently working who will soon need to update their skills to include Electric Cars as green technology jobs become more common place.

About U.S. Green Technology

U.S. Green Technology was established in January of 2009. U.S. Green Technology‘s mission is to share news and information about the latest advancements in green technologies and green jobs. U.S. Green Technology‘s areas of coverage include providing information on green social media campaigns, changes in green business, spread of the green movement throughout entertainment, green technological invention, new green start-ups, green manufacturing, green building, and green jobs. U.S. Green Technology recently launched a new free business directory for companies to promote their products and services. U.S. Green Technology also offers a green jobs board, powered by Simply Hired, for employers to post green jobs for job seekers interested in careers in the green jobs industries such as clean energy, renewable fuels, information technology, green building and green transportation.

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Related websites:

http://cms.doe.gov/sites/prod/files/ReportOnTheFirstQTR.pdf

http://www.cleantechinstitute.org/

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About Trudee Lunden: Trudee Lunden is a Freelance Writer, Green Biz Guru and Electric Vehicle Advocate who also creates cause- and brand-oriented music. As a well-traveled Renaissance woman with a diverse professional background she's handled Marketing, Events and Sales for Environmental Motors, Business Development for LOHAS-based Clean Agency, plus research, communications and social media. Trudee’s passion for cleaner alternative fuels inspired two motivating Rock songs to charge up the masses: “Let’s Get Wired” and “Electricity”. You can find her on Twitter @GreenMusicLady.

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