Green Jobs

Green businesses are blooming in California, creating jobs at a faster pace than the broader economy, a new study has found. The report from Next 10 , a nonprofit research group in Palo Alto, explores California's "core green economy," including areas such as research and advocacy, finance and investment, energy efficiency, recycling and building. The study, to be released today, determined that the number of green companies surged 45% from 1995 to 2008, and total jobs in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable fuels and clean tech grew 36%. During the same period general employment in the state expanded just 13%. From January 2007 to January 2008 green jobs increased 5% while total jobs declined 1%. The number of green jobs in the Golden State jumped to 159,000 in 2008 from 117,000 in 1995, an average annual growth rate of 2.4%, according to what Next 10 called "the most comprehensive accounting" of the sector ever conducted.

An advisor to President Obama has resigned amid controversy over inflammatory statements he made before joining the administration, the White House said early today. Van Jones, an advisor on environmentally friendly "green jobs," had been linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans. The matter surfaced after news reports of a crude remark Jones had made about Republicans, and, separately, of his name appearing on a petition dealing with the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

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.

America's wind energy industry enjoyed a banner year in 2009, thanks largely to tax credits and other incentives packed into the $787-billion economic stimulus bill. But even though a record 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity came on line, few jobs were created overall and wind power manufacturing employment, in particular, fell -- a setback for President Obama's pledge to create millions of green jobs. Obama has long pitched green jobs, especially in the energy, transportation and manufacturing fields, as a prescription for long-term, stable employment and a prosperous middle class.

Here in this Mississippi Delta county, they are waiting for the return of the slender man in the elegant suit -- the one who spoke, in a heavy Chinese accent, of a promise that couldn't have been more welcome or fashionable. It was the promise of a new green industry, with hundreds of green jobs. "I heard about it," said Claude Boyd, a 41-year-old farmhand out of work after the winter harvest. "I need it bad. I've got good references." Joey Lowery, 42 and also unemployed, sounded a skeptical note.

Note to President Obama: Energy efficiency and clean technology can help jump-start the U.S. economy. That's the message of a report released today by Next 10, a nonprofit research group in Palo Alto, which says California's experience underscores how the green sector is emerging as a key component of growth. Among the findings: Green-collar jobs are growing faster than statewide employment. Clean-tech investment in the state hit a record last year, despite steep stock-market declines.

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.

When it comes to conserving energy, California is one of the most efficient states. But it's no longer the best. That honor goes to Massachusetts for the second year in a row, according to the sixth annual report on the subject from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. But the Golden State has been a leader for decades, according to the group, which goes by the less-unwieldy ACEEE. Utilities in the state offer energy efficiency programs for customers and are expected to save nearly 7,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity between 2010 and 2012.