Make Every Job a Green Job
Shapiro
In a recent CNN commentary entitled “Green Jobs: Hope or Hype?” Samuel Sherraden argues that green job creation will be insufficient to bring America out of recession. But Sherraden narrowly defines green as a “sector,” and fails to see its potential as a strategy for the revitalization of the entire economy.
When the public debate is focused around the precise number of green jobs created in, say, a solar panel factory, we miss the opportunity as a country to think more broadly about greening the economy — and building a foundation for real growth and competitiveness.
The aspiration to create “green jobs” should really be seen as shorthand for two public priorities — immediate job creation and long-term transformation of the economy for sustainability and prosperity — and both goals can be addressed simultaneously. However, in judging our progress, a simple tally of jobs in “green sectors” is only a partial indicator of the impact and thus can be misleading.
*Read the full story on the CNN Web site.
Last 5 posts by Andrew Shapiro
• Business Can Ignore Climate Deniers - December 21st, 2009
• Copenhagen, Meet Columbus - December 12th, 2009
• Can Obama Become the Green Leader We Need? - May 1st, 2009
• Take Eco-Efficiency to a Higher Level - April 9th, 2009
• How Detroit's Fate Is Linked With Ours - November 27th, 2008
