Green jobs? Does that mean you get a paycheck?

“Green Jobs.”  We’ve been hearing a lot about those haven’t we?  What *is* a green job?  Have you wondered how your state is doing?  To answer these questions comes the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices.

Definition of a “Green Job”
There are many different definitions for what constitutes a “green job.” This, along with a lack of standardized industry data on “green” products, services, and occupations, has resulted in the development of multiple methodological approaches for analyzing the green economy. The approach taken by Collaborative Economics in the link is based on quantifying the core green economic activity defined as business establishments that provide products and services that do the following:

• Provide alternatives to carbon-based energy sources;
• Conserve the use of energy and all natural resources; and,
• Reduce pollution (including GHG emissions) and repurpose waste.

The Green Economy Summary for Wisconsin is below and HERE IS THE LINK for the full report for Wisconsin.  For any other state, click HERE.

WISCONSIN’S GREEN ECONOMY SUMMARY

The emerging green economy is diverse and widespread. To varying degrees, every state is witnessing growth in some green industry segment, and more often than not, this business growth is building off of existing strengths in the state. Familiar products and services are finding new uses or are taking new forms in response to new market demands. As policy makers implement new standards (e.g. building effiency standards, renewable portfolio standard), incentives and regulations, new business opportunities emerge to meet growing demand.

Analyzing a state’s green economy in terms of the scope of green business activity can reveal areas of comparative advantage, promising areas for R&D investment and workforce development, and opportunities for building partnerships within and across green industry segments. Additionally, as incentives and new regulations are introduced, this information reveals the extent of a state’s business base for meeting the coming demand for things such as highly efficiency appliances, renewable energy generation systems, high-efficiency building products, and low-emission fuels.

This analysis examines core green business activity and focuses on businesses that provide products and services that do the following:1 Provide alternatives to carbon-based energy sources Conserve the use of energy and all natural resources Reduce pollution (including GHG emissions) and repurpose waste.

In addition, this summary provides an initial view into innovation in the fields of clean and green technology. State trends in venture capital investment and patent registrations can provide some indication for areas of future business activity.

Green Business Activity

Wisconsin’s green economy summary displays a diverse array of green businesses with different levels of specialization. Compared with the national average, Wisconsin has a strong concentration of green business activity in Transportation and Energy Infrastructure (see Employment Concentration by Green Segment graph, commonly called a “bubble chart”). Areas of growing comparative advantage are in Green Building and Agriculture.

Each “bubble” represents one of the 15 green segments, and its size represents the employment size.2 (The 15 green segments are described in a detailed table below.) With nearly 4,000 jobs, Recycling & Waste accounts for the largest employment of Wisconsin’s green segments. Other green segments with high employment levels include Air & Environment (3,500 jobs), Energy Efficiency (2,800 jobs), and Water & Wastewater (2,550 jobs).

High employment concentration in a particular green segment indicates an area of strength and comparative advantage for a state. This means that the percentage of total employment in a particular segment is higher than the national average.3 For example, Wisconsin’s Transportation segment (which includes non-carbon fuels, vehicles and equipment) is 3.5 times more concentrated than the U.S. average, Energy Infrastructure is more than three-times as concentrated, and Energy Efficiency is twice as concentrated.

Between 1995 and 2007, some segments have witnessed a change in concentration either by becoming more specialized over time or diminishing in concentration. This change is displayed by the placement along the horizontal axis (i.e. x-axis). Of all green segments, Wisconsin’s employment concentration in Transportation increased the most from below the national average to 3.5 times the national average.