The vast majority of the top 40 U.S. cities place a priority on meeting their sustainability goals, according to a new report by Living Cities, an organization comprised of leading foundations and financial institutions. The report, “Green Cities: How Urban Sustainability Efforts Can and Must Drive America’s Climate Change Policies,” evaluates how well cities across the country are working on reducing urban emissions, and lays out three key areas that can have the greatest impact.
According to Living Cities, the three components to a successful green cities strategy that can create jobs, stimulate private sector development, and make cities more livable include: building energy retrofits, green workforce development, and transit-orientated development. However, Living Cities also concludes that “few cities are prioritizing the needs of low-income people and communities as part of their green strategies and programs.”
In an example cited by GreenBiz, innovative programs often aren’t designed with green jobs in mind. “San Francisco’s “Go Solar” program, which offers rebates of up to $6,000 for individuals and $10,000 for businesses that install solar systems, is a groundbreaking project, but so far has only resulted in 16 companies hiring employees to install solar facilities.” Mass retro-fits are seen as key to expanding green jobs: workers will be needed to “install renewable energy systems to power buildings, overhaul lighting, heating and cooling, and develop building management systems to control facilities’ energy use.”
Additional findings from the survey component of the report:
- 1/2 of the top 40 cities have sustainability plans in place; 3/4 have detailed GHG emission reduction plans.
- 2/3 of cities report that the state, federal government have little or no impact on their sustainability work.
- 1/3 of cities have partnered with area colleges to create green jobs programs; 1/6 have programs that place trainees in jobs
- 2/3 require LEED silver standards for new city-owned or constructed buildings.
- Almost 1/2 of cities have subsidies for insultation, weatherization, and energy-efficient appliances.
Living Cities concludes with three key recommendations:
- To achieve the energy savings and green job opportunities possible through green buildings, cities must retrofit through systems that can achieve scale.
- To create green-collar jobs at scale, cities must re-engineer their local economic and workforce development systems.
- To spur more equitable transit-oriented development, cities need to re-orient their local real estate markets.
It is encouraging to read reports such as the one on Cities and Sustainability, however, as someone transitioning from a landscape architecture career into the new “green economy” the task has been quite daunting. In spite of over 20 years as a landscape architect and land use planner, and working towards my GreenMBA in sustainable enterprise, whenever I apply for a job in energy conservation, climate planning (which I have done), I have to start at the bottom of the ladder. The process is frustrating, and I would appreciate some advice on how to break into the green job market.