Green industries offer job growth opportunity

When a Republican candidate for president starts talking about limiting greenhouse gases during a speech at a wind turbine plant you know there’s an environmental wave going on.

All the presidential candidates, including John McCain who spoke about climate change at a  wind energy facility in Oregon this month, have green initiatives on their agendas, and states across the country are embarking on initiatives to cut pollution and a reliance on fossil fuels. Not to mention homeowners who don’t want to be at the mercy of electric and oil companies.

Solar, wind and biofuels are all growing alternatives, and these fairly young industries will need people — people to produce, install and sell their products.

That means a wave of employment opportunities — so-called green-collar jobs — could sweep the nation.

Samuel Pagan is already a beneficiary. This former steelworker now works at a wind turbine plant owned by Gamesa Wind USA in Fairless Hills, Pa.

Pagan was sick of the ups and downs of old-line manufacturing and saw wind as a growth industry. “I was looking for more stability,” he explains. He needed little training because he had assembly experience and was able to quickly step into his new career, doing mechanical assembly of mainframes for wind turbines.

“It’s a new industry and a new company and there’s opportunity here,” says Pagan, who admits he’s not really a tree hugger but just wanted a stable job.