Where green-collar jobs are concerned, we’re in the backlash phase of the hype cycle: the “trough of disillusionment.” The New York Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer have both published contrarian pieces on green job programs recently, pronouncing them failures or disappointments. Reasoned rebuttals are here [and here] and here, respectively.
What I wanted to say, though, is that I’ve been expecting this backlash for some time. Hopes got too high, too soon for a green jobs explosion. That’s why our primer on the subject went to lengths to name the many pitfalls jobs programs must avoid. Many barriers have long prevented the emergence of a self-sustaining building energy upgrade industry that offers pathways out of poverty for low-skill workers. The technical potential of energy efficiency is abundant, but the market is riddled with failures, fissures, and flaws. So green-jobs programs have always faced challenging odds.
Still, just as early media attention to green jobs was too bullish, the current round is too bearish. I asked a thoughtful Northwest practitioner for a reality-check update on local progress. Here’s what I got from Alex Ramel, who coordinates a green jobs program called the Community Energy Challenge (CEC) in Bellingham, Washington.
The CEC recently celebrated the completion of 500 home energy assessments and has helped more than 200 local homes complete energy efficiency retrofits. More than 100 home retrofit projects are currently in process. At the same time, the CEC has worked with more than 80 small businesses to implement energy efficiency improvements ranging from light bulb changes to heat pumps to solar photovoltaics.
The CEC is a Whatcom County green jobs program that helps local homes and businesses save energy and money through low-cost energy assessments and personalized recommendations.
“We opened the doors for this program just over one year ago,” says Shawn Collins, the CEC program manager with the Opportunity Council. “In that time, we have helped 500 homeowners make smart decisions about how to cut their energy costs. Along the way we have helped get a lot of people to work and given a needed boost to our local economy. We are proud of this achievement.”
The CEC has found potential annual savings of $200-$400, or 20-30 percent of energy costs, per home. At small businesses, the program is consistently finding the potential for an average of more than $500 in annual savings, or three to five percent of energy costs per year. Saving energy cuts pollution associated with power generation and stimulates the local economy by both generating jobs and by keeping money in our community. The CEC supports approximately 60 local construction sector jobs through demand for energy efficiency projects generated by the program. More than 20 businesses—general contractors, insulation companies, electricians, heating contractors and more—have completed work for the Community Energy Challenge.
The CEC is a collaboration between two non-profits, Sustainable Connections and the Opportunity Council. The program guides participants through every step of a cost-effective energy efficiency makeover. Participating Whatcom homes or businesses receive a low-cost home energy assessment, a custom action plan, an energy advisor to answer questions, vetted contractors to complete the work, third party quality assurance, and financial incentives and low-interest loans to help finance the work. Energy efficiency has never been easier! The CEC is one of 7 Community Energy Efficiency Pilot Programs in Washington, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and managed by Washington State University – Energy Extension.
Compared with nothing, 500 assessments, 200 residential retrofits, 80 business energy upgrades, and about 60 construction-sector jobs are a lot. Compared with the scale of the need for energy upgrades and the scale of unemployment, they are a little.
But mostly, after just about a year, they are a good start. In hype cycle terms, I look forward to the “plateau of productivity.”
Jon Stahl
Nice perspective, Alan, thanks for the reality check. I’d be interested in hearing more about *why* you think the initial wave of attention was too bullish (and I definitely agree that it was). Was it purely a matter of media dynamics? Or did the green jobs advocates play a role as well? How can enviros do a better job of avoiding overinflated expectations in the future? Or is it unavoidable?
Alan Durning
Mostly media dynamics: responsible studies on the subject were full of caveats and conditions, but politicians picked some big numbers and started bandying them about. The media took over from there. That’s my view.
Jim Cassio
Even many experts define green jobs in narrow terms to suit their political or policy agendas. In the real world, why should we consider a recycler to be a green job but not an organic farmer? The ideas and definitions of green jobs are not arbitrary; rather they are politically motivated. That makes green jobs a political soccer ball instead of an economic activity focused on preserving, protecting or improving the environment that would otherwise have very broad support.
-Jim Cassio, author of Green Careers: Choosing Work for a Sustainable Future
Casey Bradley
I agree Jim,politics plays a big role. Many people in the industry are shying away from using the term “Green jobs” because the notion of “green” is politically divisive. In this context we are really talking about Energy Efficiency jobs, not, as you mention the broad brushstroke of jobs that could fall under the green umbrella. Jobs in the field of Energy Efficiency are not a boom/bust scenario (unless, of course, energy prices miraculously begin to fall).
Unfortunately the initial hype is unavoidable because homeowners attack “what’s the payback?” to every energy improvement, even though they never consider it when make a consumer purchase that will never pay them back. I look forward to the “plateau” as well, and I think that it is programs like the CEC, who have used their stimulus money to develop a strong infrastructure, that will create lasting change in the job market in their area.
Michael Piper
I appreciate the perspective Alan, but I worry that a lot of this activity or work has been funded by the federal stimulus package. What will happen to these programs when the funding is gone or completely expended? I think the green job activity drops off, sadly.
Carrieann
Superb information here, ol’e chap; keep burning the midihngt oil.