Environmental Industry California

Even as politicians and economists question the value of many environmental rules 25 years after the first Earth Day, California's environmental industry has grown into a huge business, supporting an estimated 180,000 jobs and generating more than $17 billion in annual revenues. The environmental technology and services industry in California is among the largest and most important in the country and it ranks alongside film production and aerospace in terms of economic importance statewide.

Even as politicians and economists question the value of many environmental rules 25 years after the first Earth Day, California's environmental industry has grown into a huge business, supporting an estimated 180,000 jobs and generating more than $17 billion in annual revenues. The environmental technology and services industry in California is among the largest and most important in the country and it ranks alongside film production and aerospace in terms of economic importance statewide.

If business success were a popularity contest, environmental technology would be a winner. The industry is trumpeted by the likes of Vice President Al Gore and Gov. Pete Wilson. Its growth seems inevitable, and few would quibble with its aims: It's not every business that can claim it's out to save the planet. But for local companies, the reality doesn't quite match the hype. Turning environmental technology into a new, green engine for job growth in California is tougher than it looks.

If business success were a popularity contest, environmental technology would be a winner. The industry is trumpeted by the likes of Vice President Al Gore and Gov. Pete Wilson. Its growth seems inevitable, and few would quibble with its aims: It's not every business that can claim it's out to save the planet. But for local companies, the reality doesn't quite match the hype. Turning environmental technology into a new, green engine for job growth in California is tougher than it looks.

In an industrial park still under construction in Poway in northern San Diego County, Ballard Power Systems has a good shot at developing, within the next few years, a commercially economic fuel cell that will be able to run buses and cars with no noxious emissions.