Are Green Jobs Advocates Their Own Worst Enemies?

Abstract

There is intense controversy in the USA concerning the definition of green jobs. We review the definitions being used, note their shortcomings, and summarize criteria for green jobs being utilized by advocates and politicians – including President Biden. We find that green jobs advocates can be their own worst enemies. They have significantly tightened the criteria for characterizing green jobs and have greatly reduced the number of jobs that can thus be defined as “green.” We find the overwhelming majority of green jobs do not adhere to these criteria and that that very strict criteria greatly reduce green jobs estimates. We conclude that utilization of these criteria will very seriously underestimate the size, importance, and rates of growth of the USA green economy and green jobs. This will hinder efforts to address pressing environmental and energy issues, to increase green jobs, and to implement the Democrats’ Green New Deal.