A blog post entitled “What color is your collar?” caught my eye this week. In the course of the last year, the term green collar job has taken hold. Presidential candidates have used it, the media uses it in headlines on a regular basis, and a number of non-profits have taken on the idea as a way to jump start a green economy.
Unfortunately there is no agreed upon definition for the term. To begin to understand, you need to dig into how different groups define green collar jobs. The US Conference of Mayors used a broad definition of green industries with a limited list of job titles while the American Solar Energy Society’s numbers are based on two very specific green industries and an all inclusive set of job titles within these industries (from line jobs to infrastructure and administrative jobs).
At the moment, there are no definitive lists of the industries, job functions, or goals that come together to define the green economy. Some groups are even referring to jobs that represent varying shades of green. In other words, some jobs have more of an impact on the environment than others. Over time as technologies improve, even the way we think about how much impact a particular job has will change!
To learn more about these definitions and distinctions, read this article.
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