The Green Generation

The Green Generation, the campaign launch for 2009 and 2010 on Earth Day Network, focuses on ordinary people who want to improve their heath, their school, and who want to help find solutions to environmental problems nationally and globally. The network claims that this upcoming Earth Day 2010 is the beginning of the year where people will change their ways of living and business practices to be sustainable. The Green Generation applies to everyone. Any individual can make changes in their lives that will improve sustainability of resources and the environment. Corporations and businesses especially will have a huge impact on sustainability efforts and will become leaders in the Green Generation campaign once they realize that sustainable products and business practices will lead to future success.

The Green Generation not only focuses on change in thinking about sustainable living, but also about a new economy. By focusing on improving the environmental crisis, new green jobs are needed and the unemployment rate will soon decrease, improving the economic state. According to the American Solar Energy Society, in 2006 the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries supplied 8.5 million jobs. Even more, by 2025, if 25 % of all American energy was produced from renewable sources, 5 million new green jobs would be created, claims a report by RAND Corporation and University of Tennessee.

Green jobs are defined as “well paid, career-track jobs that contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality; they range from low-skill, entry-level positions to high-skill, higher-paid jobs, and include opportunities for advancement in both skills and wages” according to Green For All’s website. These jobs could range from reconstructing buildings, to creating sustainable buildings, to manufacturing a new green product, to organic farming, or even just teaching in green schools. However, one of the biggest concerns is that many of the people who need these green jobs do not understand the ecological complexities that most of these jobs require.

In response to this concern, The Green Jobs Act of 2007 was proposed. When the bill becomes law, 35,000 people a year will benefit from the 120 million dollars available for training programs. These programs will educate and train people on how to work in ecological fields. Soon anyone who takes advantage of these programs will be able to compete for the new jobs of the future that will improve the state of the world. For many who are behind in the job market, these programs and work opportunities may be the way out of poverty and unemployment.