The term "going green" has become synonymous with recycling and providing alternative energy sources that can lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. Many economists believe that solar, wind, hydro-electric, geothermal, and other eco-friendly sources will be the key to job growth for years into the future.
A change in the way we think about energy and job growth was bound to happen sooner or later because of the extraordinary amounts of energy that is needed to heat and cool our homes and offices and to power our cars, trucks, buses, and other modes of transportation.
The cost of energy has skyrocketed over the years. Most economists, politicians, and ordinary people understand the need to break our dependence on fossil fuels and other oil based commodities by making more environmentally friendly products for domestic consumption.
Although the term "going green" has become popular in the media and in our everyday conversations, going green is not a new phenomenon. Years ago, some companies started developing environmentally friendly attitudes that were passed along to their workforce, thereby creating certain jobs that could have been labeled as "green" at the time.
But today, because of the possibility of global warming, "going green" has become a universally acceptable term. People are looking for products that are void of toxins and unhealthful chemicals that can be used in their homes and their work environment, for their families, and for their lifestyles. This helps the environment, as well as the economy.
A broad base of new jobs are being created across the spectrum because of the tremendous rise in the use of eco-friendly products. These products are becoming more and more common on store shelves, sold through television promotions, and through online connections, and the list of products is growing due to high demand, which in effect, calls for the creation of more employment opportunities to fill the orders.
This is creating the need for new types of industries and moving the job market in a new direction. With improvements to old ideas and the development of new technologies, green jobs are becoming the wave of the future.
There are many upstart companies, as well as more established corporations, that are tapping into the growing fields of solar, wind, hydro-electric, and geo-thermal energies. Major investments of money and the development of ideas is underway in many industrialized countries in an effort to get away from the use of, and dependence on, fossil fuels.
This should create hundreds of thousands of new jobs that will be an important part of economic development for years to come. Green jobs are helping to improve the environment while growing the economy.
Green jobs are currently being developed in the energy fields, such as gas and oil productions, forestry, paper production, renewable energy, marine science, waste management, oceanography, the automobile and transportation related industries, ecological engineering, geo-science, earth science, environmental science, environmental engineering, contaminated land, atmospheric science, carbon management, toxicology and related subjects.
If you are having a hard time finding a job or if you are on the verge of being laid off, look into a vocation that may offer an inside track to green jobs. For some vocations, you may have to go back to school so check with local colleges and technical schools to find get more infomation on how you can benefit from getting a certification in one of the many green energy and green product development fields that are taking hold across the country.