Memo: The Occupations of Climate Ambition
Introduction
Common Green Jobs are over 120 occupations that we have identified that would likely benefit from federal climate and infrastructure policy, such as the American Jobs Plan
Common green jobs are spread throughout all of America’s states and territories
Each state and territory has unique natural resources and industries that make it especially strong for certain common green jobs
At greenjobsdata.com, we explore the characteristics of common green jobs
Green job creation will not necessarily advance racial and gender justice, nor create union jobs, unless these goals are centered in policy
The government could better benchmark progress in equitable green job creation by restoring and enhancing the Green Goods and Services program at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and use its procurement power to support diverse, good-paying union jobs
Experts agree that ambitious U.S. climate and infrastructure policy will create millions of jobs. For example, Data for Progress’s estimate of electrifying America’s public transportation system projects that this initiative alone would create 960,000 jobs. Additionally, the THRIVE Agenda, a legislative package put forth by the Green New Deal Network, would create over 15.5 million new jobs over the next decade. The Biden administration’s infrastructure proposals, the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, are likewise expected to add millions of new, good-paying jobs to our economy.
However, what is often lost in those numbers are the specific occupations that will be affected, analyses of who holds these jobs today, and projections about how diverse and widespread these jobs will be in the future. To begin to answer these questions, we determined the occupations that would benefit most from federal action, built a unique data explorer, and calculated the state of equitable job creation in the energy and care economies today.
