What is a Green Job?

This offshore windfarm is in Denmark, but it could easily be in Lake Ontario. How green can you get?

Every time I turn on the TV, some politician (often President Obama) is talking about creating green jobs. What is a green job? I mean, sometimes it is a no-brainer: Someone whose work is creating non-polluting, renewable energy is doing a green job. Yes? Okay, but even if that's accurate, what other green jobs are there? And what other green jobs could there be?

During the election campaign, Mr. Obama painted a very rosy picture of green employment: "Jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and fuel-efficient cars; jobs that will help us end our dependence on oil from Middle East dictators." California (which is presently staggering under the burden of something exceeding $45 billion of debt) is supposed to be the green capital of the United States. They have very high emissions standards for cars, for example, to reduce pollution. So, it seems like building low-emissions cars that reduce pollution would involve green jobs. By that logic, building energy efficient appliances and energy efficient houses must involve green jobs, too. And building hybrid cars that use less gasoline must be a green occupation. Does any of this make sense?

The thing is, you can get into difficulties in defining green activities pretty quickly. Suppose I hire someone to put more insulation into my house so I will use less energy? That sounds green to me. But if the person or persons who do this work drive gas-guzzling trucks and use materials that are bad for the environment, the job just got a lot less green. Right? So, is it a light green job?

Building or extending mass transit systems is obviously green in one way, but how much pollution does the construction activity itself entail? Centro, the bus company that services our region, operates both hybrid-diesel and compressed natural gas vehicles. That's good, although at this point a good many of their buses do not yet use a green technology. The more of these vehicles they buy, the less pollution they create, the less non-renewable fuel they use, and, I assume, the more they contribute to the creation of green jobs.

Organic farming must be a green activity. Would hazardous materials cleanup be a green occupation? But what do they do with the hazardous materials? Recycling seems like a green activity, but I have read that some of the paper, glass, and plastic that is collected ends up in landfills, not recycling plants. New York State is trying to pass a "bigger, better bottle bill," that would require people to pay a 5 cent deposit on cans and bottles of water and non-soda beverages. That seems like it must be a green activity, because it would expand recycling by encouraging people to collect and turn in those beverage containers that I see littering the streets all the time right now. As long as those containers don't end up in a landfill afterwards. Right?

My head is beginning to ache. I believe in cleaning up our environment and reducing greenhouse gases and reducing our carbon footprint and all of that stuff. I will pay taxes to support it, and I will learn to do things differently to encourage it. But somehow, I am sceptical about where all this green activity is going to come from and whether it is for real or just a scam. For example, did you know that Senator Edward Kennedy opposes the construction of a windfarm in Nantucket Sound five miles off Cape Cod? Yes, indeed he does, because it might spoil his view. Green is nice, but not in my backyard, pal!

Yes, green is good, but I'll believe it when I see it.