Advice provided by: Claire Moloney, LEED Green Associate, Cornell University

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California Green Jobs More Resilient in Recession

Next10, a California nonprofit group, recently released a report entitled "Many Shades of Green". This report showed that California's green jobs were the most resilient and were the fastest growing during the recession.

Between 2008 and 2009, green jobs in the state grew three times faster than the total employment.

Despite green jobs success in California, two universities in Los Angeles published a study saying that the city could be doing more to promote green jobs growth. In fact, they recommended specific green policies that they say would add green jobs in L.A.

Green Jobs and Renewable Energy Policy in Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Southern California (USC) released a joint academic study titled "Empowering L.A.'s Solar Workforce: New Policies that Deliver Investments and Jobs." The report was intended to be the topic of discussion at the "Building L.A.'s Workforce" summit at UCLA on November 16, 2011.

In it, researchers pointed out that despite the goal to convert 33 percent of the state's energy to solar energy by 2020, Los Angeles policymakers need to make greater efforts to meet this goal and employ green-collar workers. The report's authors called it a "wake-up call" to city leaders looking to engage a qualified workforce.

"What's so compelling about this research is that it matches the need for good, local jobs and the mandate for clean, renewable energy," Los Angeles Business Council president Mary Leslie said in a press release. "We were astonished to see how cleanly the job-creation potential, the social equity aspect and the environmental imperative go hand-in-hand."

Professional Certification for Solar Energy Jobs

Researchers suggested a number of solutions in the report, including an expansive solar rooftop project that would generate $2 billion in local investments through a solar feed-in tariff (FiT) system, in which solar energy users can sell surplus energy to utilities.

If Los Angeles legislators take up the report's charge to introduce such policies, it may create a number of new renewable energy jobs for qualified professionals, such as photovoltaic installers.

The North American Board of Certified Energy Professionals (NABCEP), offers professional certification for photovoltaic, solar thermal and small wind installers.

Similarly, the Electronics Technicians Association (ETA) provides training and certification for renewable energy installers, integrators and maintainers, with specializations in photovoltaics and small wind.

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