Interest in green jobs may be starting to take root, although more must be done to make that interest blossom, according to a new survey.
While more than 70 percent of American adults are familiar with the idea of green jobs, less than one-third (29 percent) are aware of the growing availability of this type of employment and only 1 percent have actually obtained or are considering this type of education for themselves, according to a new survey released by The Career College Association (CCA).
Eighty-five percent of college graduates are familiar with green jobs, compared to only 60 percent for those with a high school degree or less. College graduates are almost twice as likely as those with a high school degree or less to know about the growing availability of green jobs (41 percent versus 22 percent).
"We believe that green jobs are truly the way of the future," said CCA President Harris N. Miller. "Green jobs conserve energy and protect our environment. By doing so, they help solve problems from mass transit and urban sprawl to lower cost energy and more intelligent use of natural resources."
He added: "This study shows, however, that public understanding of green jobs is not uniform, and that workers who might form the green jobs workforce of the future, particularly at the lower rungs of the education ladder, need to know more about practical steps they can take to prepare today."
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes $600 million specifically targeted for green jobs training programs and billions of dollars overall for energy grid expansion and improvement, for renewable energy and energy efficiency and related projects. The CCA green jobs survey found nearly all American adults (94 percent) think people would be at least somewhat likely to consider pursuing green-related education if the federal government was to provide a financial incentive.
Only about one in three (35 percent), however, believe that such an incentive would make people very or extremely likely to consider pursuing such an education.
