dennisk's Blog

Consider these facts:

· A Washington-based consulting firm estimates that the U.S. environmental industry generated more than $340 billion in sales and almost $50 billion in tax revenues in 2005. The 5.3 million workers in the environmental industry outnumber pharmaceutical workers ten to one.

· A British company specializing in improving the energy efficiency of homes was floated on the London Stock Exchange last June and now employs 4,000 people who once worked in nearby, now closed, coal mines.

· A study prepared for the German Ministry of Environment estimates that employment in the German environmental technology industries will surpass employment in the automobile industry by 2020.

· China has some 1,000 solar thermal energy firms, generating sales of $2.5 billion and employing 600,000 workers in manufacturing and installation.

· The Indian city of Delhi is introducing new eco-friendly compressed natural gas buses, which will create an additional 18,000 new jobs.

Has the time come for Michigan to put more resources into Green Industries? What incentives can our state government provide?

Clearly, change is in the air. Our responses to climate change must have a social dimension. Workers, employers and governments must engage in dialogue to put in place the social policies which ensure that green jobs are decent jobs.