Green Jobs

Federal agents executed a search warrant at the Northern California headquarters of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection this week despite receiving $535 million in federal stimulus loan guarantees. The FBI and Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General confirmed that their agents were involved in the raid Thursday at Solyndra's offices in Fremont but declined to discuss what they were investigating. FBI spokesman Peter D. Lee said documents related to the search had been sealed.

A simmering trade dispute is highlighting a debate about the kinds of jobs America can sustain in a greening economy. The Obama administration's recent decision to slap import tariffs on Chinese solar cells was hailed by some domestic solar manufacturers as a victory for job creation, leveling the field while also sending a powerful message to Beijing about monopolistic behavior in crucial industries. But a close look at the U.S. solar industry suggests that the tariffs may actually be a job killer because the vast majority of positions in the sector aren't on the assembly line.

While many industries in California were buckling under the weight of the recession, so-called green businesses were struggling too -- just not as much, according to a new report . From January 2009 through January 2010, the overall state economy lost 7% of its jobs, according to nonprofit research group Next 10's Many Shades of Green report. During the same period, the core green economy -- composed of businesses involved in renewable energy, clean-fuel cars, water conservation, emissions trading and more -- suffered a 3% job loss.

California's economy may not be as “green” as people think. In the federal government's first report breaking down so-called green energy employment in the country, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that California had 338,400 jobs associated with the production of green goods and services in 2010. That's more than any other state, but as a percentage of California's overall employment, green jobs made up 2.3% of its total private and public payrolls. In the country as a whole, the BLS says, there were 3.1 million green jobs in 2010, which accounted for 2.4% for all employment.

California's economy may not be as “green” as people think. In the federal government's first report breaking down so-called green energy employment in the country, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that California had 338,400 jobs associated with the production of green goods and services in 2010. That's more than any other state, but as a percentage of California's overall employment, green jobs made up 2.3% of its total private and public payrolls. In the country as a whole, the BLS says, there were 3.1 million green jobs in 2010, which accounted for 2.4% for all employment.

Recycling centers across California are closing, and scores of troubled youths are being tossed from "green" jobs onto unemployment rolls in the wake of Sacramento's raid on bottle deposit funds. California's recycling treasury, filled by consumers' nickel and dime deposits on drink containers, had hummed along successfully for two decades until state officials left it nearly bankrupt after taking $451 million out to help balance the budget. The unredeemed deposits that subsidized recycling facilities and such projects as a local conservation corps are virtually gone, leaving the programs in the lurch.

What was once the bustling Evergreen Pulp mill is today a forlorn factory of smokestacks and tan buildings clustered quietly beside the still, gray waters of the Arcata harbor near Eureka, Calif. Entrepreneur Bob Simpson bought the closed facility in February with the hopes of reopening it as a environmentally friendly toilet paper plant. He planned to spend $400 million rehabbing the factory and rehiring 215 workers who lost their jobs when the old pulp mill shut down in October 2008.

A veterans outreach organization in Long Beach was named one of 17 groups nationwide Wednesday to receive a share of $7.5 million to train veterans for green jobs. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced the agency grants to provide about 3,000 veterans with training and employment in green jobs. In California, the Long Beach site will get $500,000 to train more than 100 veterans in Los Angeles County and find work for them.

Jobs at clean-tech or alternative-energy companies have flourished in California, with nearly a quarter of them based in Los Angeles, a new study has found. Employers offering jobs in fields such as solar-power generation, electric-vehicle development and environmental consultation added 5,000 jobs in 2008, the latest data available. In all, about 174,000 Californians were working in eco-friendly fields by early 2009, compared with just 111,000 in 1995, said nonprofit research group Next 10. The study, which culled data from government and private reports, was released late Tuesday.

Although the recession has emptied shopping malls and filled jobless centers, the call has only gotten louder for renewable energy, environmentally gentle products and eco-friendly practices -- and for people to make all of that happen. President Obama has said that he hopes to create 5 million green jobs within a decade. The U.S. Conference of Mayors estimates that the "green economy" could account for as much as 10% of job growth over the next 30 years. The job description casts a wide net. The green ranks can include autoworkers making hybrid cars, building consultants, home energy auditors, environmental studies professors, wind turbine engineers, lawyers for biofuel companies and many more.

While many industries in California were buckling under the weight of the recession, so-called green businesses were struggling too -- just not as much, according to a new report . From January 2009 through January 2010, the overall state economy lost 7% of its jobs, according to nonprofit research group Next 10's Many Shades of Green report. During the same period, the core green economy -- composed of businesses involved in renewable energy, clean-fuel cars, water conservation, emissions trading and more -- suffered a 3% job loss.

The State of the Union address is a political exercise in the best of times. But when a president is running for reelection and Congress is dominated by his most bitter opponents, there's even less pretense than usual. The State of the Union address that President Obama delivered Tuesday was, in a sense, the first formal speech of his reelection campaign. It was his chance to wedge himself into the noise of the Republican primary campaign for 66 minutes of uninterrupted television time, and he took advantage of it. It was a blue-collar speech, aimed largely at the swing voters Obama most needs to woo - middle- and low-income workers still struggling in the recession's wake.

Federal agents executed a search warrant at the Northern California headquarters of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection this week despite receiving $535 million in federal stimulus loan guarantees. The FBI and Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General confirmed that their agents were involved in the raid Thursday at Solyndra's offices in Fremont but declined to discuss what they were investigating. FBI spokesman Peter D. Lee said documents related to the search had been sealed.

It was a massive flatbed truck, flanked by smaller vehicles brandishing "oversized load" banners, carrying a huge white thing. I think the first one I saw was in Ohio. But I know that by the time I passed Grand Island, Neb., I'd lost count. What was it? At first, it looked like it could be a replacement for the Swords of Q?dis?yah — that giant crossed blades sculpture in central Baghdad. And then, the aha: It was a propeller blade for a wind turbine, a really big one. I've seen plenty of wind farms, but I'd never seen the blades being transported for construction.

California continued to lead the nation in the number of people with "green jobs," according to a study that looked at the growing influence of the so-called clean economy. Nearly 320,000 people in the state work in such jobs as installing solar panels, making electric vehicles and running organic farms, the study by the Brookings Institution found. A little less than one-third, or about 90,000 of those jobs, are in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, it said. Nationwide, the clean economy — characterized as goods and services with an environmental benefit — employs 2.7 million people.

Jobs at clean-tech or alternative-energy companies have flourished in California, with nearly a quarter of them based in Los Angeles, a new study has found. Employers offering jobs in fields such as solar-power generation, electric-vehicle development and environmental consultation added 5,000 jobs in 2008, the latest data available. In all, about 174,000 Californians were working in eco-friendly fields by early 2009, compared with just 111,000 in 1995, said nonprofit research group Next 10. The study, which culled data from government and private reports, was released late Tuesday.

It was a massive flatbed truck, flanked by smaller vehicles brandishing "oversized load" banners, carrying a huge white thing. I think the first one I saw was in Ohio. But I know that by the time I passed Grand Island, Neb., I'd lost count. What was it? At first, it looked like it could be a replacement for the Swords of Q?dis?yah — that giant crossed blades sculpture in central Baghdad. And then, the aha: It was a propeller blade for a wind turbine, a really big one. I've seen plenty of wind farms, but I'd never seen the blades being transported for construction.

At the annual Bioneers convention in 2007, Van Jones described to an audience of scientists, activists and environmentalists how he had spent 20 years trying to get Americans to pay attention to the urban poor. "We would call newspapers, television stations, saying kids are dying, we're going to funerals every weekend. 'Not interested.' We'd say we've got kids going to school in Oakland, 30 kids in the classroom, six books, no chalk.' 'Not interested.' " Finally, the Yale Law School graduate turned community organizer told the crowd, "We said, 'Well, we want green jobs and not jails for our youth.

Mayor Ron Dellums spent his childhood in West Oakland watching the Oakland Acorns play ball. So when the planned move to Fremont, Calif., by the now- Oakland A's fell through in early 2009, Dellums kicked into high gear. He recruited City Council President Jane Brunner, and they jointly appealed to Major League Baseball's commissioner, launching talks with league officials on a new stadium as part of an aggressive campaign to keep the team in Oakland. "Ron was phenomenal," Brunner said of the former congressman's role in nearly two years of ongoing discussions.

During the campaign season, it was easy to dismiss the idea of a green energy future for California as mere campaign rhetoric. But with the second coming of Jerry Brown, the reelection of Barbara Boxer and voter endorsement of state policies to curb global warming, California really is poised to lead the country to a greener future. FOR THE RECORD: California: A Nov. 4 Op-Ed about Jerry Brown and California's green future said voters passed Proposition 187 in 1984. It passed in 1994.