Could “green jobs” be the future of job growth? Jesse Russell takes a look.

With the increased focus on saving the environment and more Americans taking the initiative to live green, what does that mean for jobs? According to a 2006 National Renewable Energy Lab study, if the US were to make a national commitment to living green, there would be an increasing need for jobs in wind-farm designers, solar power technicians, workers to run biomass plants, and more. Labor and environmentalists alike are crossing fingers for Congress to pass the “Renewable Energy Standard” that will help kick training and implementation of such jobs into action. Terry Bonds, director of the United Steelworkers District 12 says that such a move would help reverse economic damage done by outsourcing of jobs:

[Bonds]: "When we shut down a manufacturing facility in this country and ship it to some Third World country where they don't have environmental protections, we harm the environment and we also lose jobs."