Most “green job” training programs aim to teach low-income workers the job skills necessary to join the nascent clean-tech economy: energy-efficiency retrofitting, wind turbine maintenance, brownfield remediation and so forth.

But do these programs train low-income people to become environmentalists, too?

At present, there seems to be no academic research addressing that question, though anecdotal evidence gathered while reporting my story in today’s New York Times suggests that, at least in some cases, they do.

Consider, for example, Wayne Gatlin, who graduated in the spring of 2008 from Solar Richmond, a San Francisco-area group that prepares low-income adults for jobs in California’s burgeoning solar industry.

“I’m getting greener,” said Mr. Gatlin, who earns far more as a photovoltaics installer for the Berkeley-based Sun Light & Power than he did working security or selling shoes at an Adidas retail store.

“I recycle now,” Mr. Gatlin said. “I ride my bike. This was stuff I wouldn’t do before.”

That doesn’t surprise Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, the chief executive of Green for All, a national organization working to give low-income people access to the opportunities represented by the green economy.

“These programs provide participants with a different understanding of what’s happening in their own back yard,” Ms. Ellis-Lamkins said in an e-mail message. Green-job training programs allow “people to feel connected with something larger than themselves, and to directly change the face and future of their neighborhoods,” she said.

In that sense, green-job training programs might well serve as a bridge between environmentalists and a constituency they’ve sometimes struggled to reach.

While surveys reveal little difference between, say, working-class Americans and their middle-class counterparts when it comes to concern for the environment, low-income people are less well-educated about environmental issues than higher-income groups, according to Anthony Leiserowitz, a researcher at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

People who earn less than $25,000 a year, for example, tend to be much less informed about issues like climate change, Mr. Leiserowitz said.

“I’m trying to get everybody involved in solar,” Mr. Gatlin said, noting the technology’s environmental benefits. “I’m saying solar is where things should go.”

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When unemployment is rising, it might not seem like the best time to go on a job hunt. However, the current economic crisis is helping bring to light some of the systemic problems that need fixing. Thus, the green job market may be the right direction for more reasons than ever. To find the fulfilling job of your green dreams, there’s help wanted at Planet Green’s “How to Go Green: Job Search.”

Top Tips for Greening Your Gig Quest

Start with Your Current Job: While you conjure up images of the ideal, earth-friendly career, there’s nothing stopping you from greening your current job. You can start with your own wardrobe (used) and commute (public transportation, bicycle, car pool) and then get your co-workers involved.

Follow Your Heart (not the paycheck): We may live in a capitalist society, but there will always be a place for artists, activists, and eco-visionaries. Setting up a five-year plan based mostly on salary is likely to stunt your radical growth. Think bigger. Follow your heart. Your planet is counting on you.

Volunteer: The best way to learn what you like is to try it. By volunteering, you’re able to get a taste of what’s out there while simultaneously putting your time and skills to good use. Slowly but surely, your resume will get greener and you’ll get closer to discovering your talents and passions.

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In fact, there are arguably more green employment opportunities than ever before. What’s more, the trend is likely to continue.

Growing Green

Part of it has to do with stimulus money. Government funding is propelling the growth of green industries like wind energy, and creating jobs in the process.

Take California as an example. Thanks to $75 million in stimulus funds, combined with other financial support, the state has launched the Clean Energy Workforce Training Program, an effort aimed at creating 20,000 new jobs.

While the California initiative is the nation’s largest state-sponsored green jobs training program, it is by no means the only state creating jobs with stimulus green. Projects funded by federal stimulus dollars are slated in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, among other states.

But it’s not only government money that has the green economy growing. Demand for alternative, more efficient forms of energy has spawned new businesses.

Meanwhile, greater awareness on the part of consumers has generated interest in anything and everything green—from energy to environmentally-friendly products and services.

Where the Jobs Are

Nevertheless, even as the green job market grows and continues to offer opportunity, there is a lot of confusion surrounding what constitutes a green job.

Some of the confusion is because training for green jobs focuses largely or exclusively on technical jobs, like those related to wind and solar power. Construction jobs often now have a green tint as well.

Although some women pursue opportunities in these fields, a majority of women are interested in other career paths.

What if you don’t want to manufacture solar panels or retrofit office buildings?

Before you decide green isn’t your color, it’s worth looking at green industries from the standpoint of your career path.

A company that manufactures solar panels, for example, is no different from any other organization. If it’s a large company, it will likely have a marketing department, a human resources department, an accounting function, and so forth.

In other words, if you’re a professional with transferable skills, you might want to consider using those skills in a green industry.

Websites that can help you find potential employers include Green Career Central and GreenBiz.com. Both include information and job listings. The Green Jobs Network is another resource.

Keep in mind that even if you aren’t an environmental or technical professional, there may be green opportunities for you. Indeed, career exploration might lead to greener pastures—in more ways than one.

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What are green job recruiters and do they make it easier to land the green collar jobs that are available? Ecological concerns have brought these jobs to the high end of the list. The term refers to a very wide range of jobs that require all kinds of different prerequisites. Learning what types of jobs are available for you can be helpful through a recruiter, but only if you have some sort of education or experience in the field.

It is not unusual for a green job recruiter to stroke a few egos. After all, they want you to talk to them and you want them to talk to you. There is a quiet stand off going on between the two of you as you both extract information. The more you learn about the positions that are available and whether you might be a good fit the more empowered you are to continue your search on your own. Remember that right now that scientific positions are the most heavily sought after.

The more information you obtain through a green job recruiter the better prepared you will be if a job becomes readily available. Often you have to know that the position exists before you can aim for it.

Until there is steady construction of solar panels and wind turbines there will not be many laborer positions available. Green building jobs are the ones to focus on for labor positions.

As you develop your experience and your education a green job recruiter can help you get your bearings, answer your questions, and help you start the job search. This is great for your general information if you need it, but don’t forget to submit your resume to all the appropriate job openings. Learn how to subtly insert keywords in your resume that will attract the attention of the search engine used on the site. This will help pull your resume up earlier rather than later.

All job recruiters are hired to find good employees and make good deals with them. This can include the salary expectations. Don’t let a green job recruiter fill you in on the basic salary expectations. Know your basic facts so that you are aware when you are being pitched versus receiving an offer.

You can learn a great deal from your interactions from a green job recruiter. Part and full time positions may be available, just as intern positions may very well be part of the overall option.

While this is common practice for some positions, you need the time to investigate other options in the alternative energy job market. Always be sure that you have researched the companies that are sending recruiters around to various schools and job fairs. Knowing the company can give you more invaluable information for your search for employment.

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1) Federal Stimulus injection of over $1bn.
This, coupled with private efforts like Khosla’s $1bn+ fund are stimulation innovation across the board.

2) Return to Corporate Values
Industry leaders agree that green is good: for brands, for economies of efficiency, and for shareholders. Jobs in the CSR and environmental fields are blossoming at every level and location across corporate America — and the rest of the world.

3) Labor Markets got Engaged
Best-in-breed corporate citizens realize that going “green” is more than just a marketing proposition. Employees are driving change from the inside of organizations, pushing out new products and services that maximize the value in building lasting brands that invested in environmental sustainability.

The Bottom Line: Green Jobs are back, and poised to explode in a big way.

We see this in San Francisco, where for the first time in nearly 9 months, we see multiple jobs posted, firms calling inbound, and the pace of placement picking up.

We hope you’ll join as we build this movement, and help 2010 be the year of the environmental leader.

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If you are a serious networker and job-seeker, you are not waiting for opportunities to come to you. You are going after them. Here are 4 conferences that you should attend to make those serious contacts in the Climate Change, Environmental and Infrastructure markets.

US Carbon Finance Forum: Carbon trading is one of the newest and fastest growing markets even without the Cap and Trade bill. This is a serious conference for corporations, consultants, investors and traders. Big networking opportunities and possibly job connections  are here.

Financial Times US Energy Business Conference: This is going to be an in-depth conference about alternative energy generation, infrastructure and financing.  If you are looking to network in Green energy, you need to be here.

Carbon Markets Insights Americas 2009: This conference is about the global carbon market. This is a can’t miss if you are looking for a conference with international networking and business opportunities.

WEFTEC: The premier event for those interested in Water Quality and Water Quality Research. Don’t let the technical sessions fool you. This event will be a Who’s who of the Water Business.

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President Barack Obama’s adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.

Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly “green jobs” with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.

Jones issued an apology on Thursday for his past statements. When asked the next day whether Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Jones “continues to work in the administration.”

The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones’ name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur.

“On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said in his resignation statement. “They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.”

Jones said he has been “inundated with calls from across the political spectrum urging me to stay and fight.”

But he said he cannot in good conscience ask his colleagues to spend time and energy defending or explaining his past.

Jones flatly said in an earlier statement that he did not agree with the petition’s stand on the 9/11 attacks and that “it certainly does not reflect my views, now or ever.”

As for his other comments he made before joining Obama’s team, Jones said, “If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize.”

Despite his apologies, Republicans demanded Jones quit.

Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said in a statement, “His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate.” Missouri Sen. Christopher Bonds said Congress should investigate Jones’s fitness the job.

Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck repeatedly denounced Jones after a group the adviser co-founded, ColorofChange.org, led an advertising boycott against Beck’s show to protest his claim that Obama is a racist.

James Rucker, the organization’s executive director, has said Jones had nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn’t even know about the campaign before it started.

Jones, well-known in the environmental movement, was a civil-rights activist in California before shifting his attention to environmental and energy issues. He is known for laying out a broad vision of a green economy.

Nancy Sutley chair of the council, said in a statement released early Sunday that she accepts Jones resignation and thanked him for his service.

“Over the last six months, he had been a strong voice for creating jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources,” she said. “We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward.”

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Who holds the solution?

“American workers,” said Katie Gulley, Regional Program Manager for the Blue Green Alliance, a coalition of labor groups and environmental organizations working together to create the clean energy economy.

Katie’s presentation, “Good Jobs, Green Jobs” was part of a statewide tour held this week in Wichita, Topeka, and Kansas City. Watch the video coverage here.

Representatives from the United Steelworkers, Communication Workers of America, Laborers’ Union, AFL-CIO, Plumbers and Pipefitters, Machinists, and many other unions came to hear Katie’s green jobs message.

These union workers, though accustomed to seeing each other at meetings, may have been surprised by who they were sitting next to. Environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club, Kansas Natural Resource Council, and the Land Institute were in attendance, also interested in Katie’s message.

This unlikely alliance- between environmental and labor organizations – is born of a common purpose: Bringing good, green jobs to Kansas.

“Green jobs are blue collar jobs with a ‘green’ purpose,” explained Gulley. These are steelworkers forming steel for a wind turbine tower, laborers constructing wind projects, communications workers laying broadband, and electricians running line for solar panels.

And, as Katie explained, these green jobs must also be good jobs – jobs that pay good family-supporting wages and that protect workers.

With over 120 attendees at these events – interest and enthusiasm for Katie’s message was high.

One recent report from the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) finds that Kansas stands to gain more than 11,000 manufacturing jobs in the renewable energy industry, pumping more than $1.97 billion into the state’s economy.

Labor unions, farm organizations, environmentalists, representatives from community colleges and environmental education centers – all agreed: The time has come for green jobs in Kansas.

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The venue for the World Changing Careers symposium (WCC) definitely helped the participants to put their mindsets in the right place. The University of British Columbia’s vast campus was surrounded by nature at every turn: great vines creeping up the buildings, enormous trees everywhere, the ocean nearby and much more. Seeing such beauty provoked a deeper desire to preserve our earth’s resources.

We all know it’s true; our demand for resources and ecosystem services keeps on growing while there is a decline in the capacity of earth to provide those resources and services. “We are already seeing the consequences; the collapse of fisheries around the world is threatening lives and livelihoods, the loss of arable farmland is contributing to global food insecurity, and shrinking supplies of clean water mean many more people are vulnerable to preventable diseases like cholera and diarrhea” (The Natual Step- http://www.thenaturalstep.org/en/canada/ ).What’s positive in all of that? Nothing- let’s face it and actually do something about it!

A green job is an entry point to address this issue. In fact, I was privileged to take part in aGreen Job Dialogue. We asked ourselves: What are transformational green jobs? We concluded that sustainability shouldn’t be seen as a “department” that tells people what to do, but more seen as cross-functional. It should be “built into job descriptions” instead of being a separate initiative. In fact, sustainability shouldn’t be a comparative model but simply needs to touch every segment.

Actually, there exists “different shades” of green jobs. In manufacturing, a light green would be pollution control whereas a dark green would be Cradle-to-cradle(closed-loop systems). In forestry, a light green job would be reforestation projects; dark green, halting deforestation. In order to create a sustainable society, we need to start thinking a step ahead and create more dark green jobs. For example, we need to continue looking at how nature does things, like capturing the sun or filtering the water, and understand how we can apply that to our lives through redesigned technologies. This is called biomimicry and it can go as far as challenging cities to provide the same level of ecosystem services at the native ecosystem.

For an interesting video about biomimicry, check out:

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