Green jobs have become the red hot topic of discussion recently among job seekers, thanks in part to the discussion raised during the Presidential campaign.
A recent DBL Investors study found that the fastest per capita growth of green employment is in Alaska, Hawaii and North Dakota, all three of which have shown green job growth in excess of 50% since 2003. New Mexico is hovering right at 50%.
Energy has long been an economic staple in Alaska, so the Last Frontier’s involvement in renewable energy growth should come as no surprise. Sectors that account for the state’s green employment include travel and construction. In fact, more than 4% of Alaska’s green jobs are in construction, serving as a possible blueprint for invigorating an industry in need of growth. Construction unemployment lingers close to 12% nationally, but the building of new green facilities and retrofitting of existing buildings has lowered that rate in Alaska and elsewhere.
New Mexico’s green job growth is partially the result of the State Energy Partnership Program (SESP), which has a mission of creating jobs in construction through training programs. You can visit your state’s labor department website to find similar programs near you.
California remains the national leader in overall green-friendly employment with more than 300,000 clean technology jobs. And the Golden State could very well see a lot more soon. The California state legislature signed into law recently a bill removing certain barriers that allow for in-state production of renewable natural gas from biomethane, a practice that was previously outlawed. A new method of powering California’s taxed power grid will require new workers, which translates to thousands of job opportunities for a state lagging behind compared to national unemployment figures.