The year 2011 saw green jobs continue to grow in a number of key areas. Even as the economy overall had a rocky year, the green economy saw steady growth. Green jobs opened up in a number of sectors. Even President Obama set aside money in the budget to encourage entrepreneurs to go green. It shows that on all levels of society people recognize the importance of working to create jobs related to saving the planet. For those considering perusing educational and business opportunities in environmental sustainability the future is bright. They are in the vanguard of a movement determined to play a significant role in keeping the planet healthy.

The past year has shown that green business is the future. Not only are careers and businesses based in the green economy good for the planet, they can generate significant incomes as well. When President Obama stated his opposition to Proposition 23, the legislation that would have allowed companies doing business in California continue releasing carbon dioxide at their current rate, he gave a great boost to the green movement and signaled his support for the need to create more green jobs. It was a huge victory for the green economy.

People on all levels of society have begun to recognize that the green economy and the green collar jobs it creates are good for everyone. These jobs challenge the young to change their vision of what is possible and what is necessary. It has led to innovation in all segments of society. Green jobs are good paying jobs which encourage people young and old to think globally but act locally. Such thinking will transform local communities, create jobs, reinvigorate the economy and increase prosperity and the quality of life for large numbers of people. The strides made in 2011 confirm this is true, and that this could be a great model for the future of our economy and our society at every level.

In 2011 the USPS decided to make steps towards going green with Go Green stamps and recycled envelopes. The 15 stamps have messages on how to help the environment. The recycled envelopes are made from post-consumer fiber which keeps waste out of landfills. The USPS also offers Go Green stationary which folds into a mailer and eliminates the need for an envelope. The 21 members of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum made the commitment for its members to go green in 2011. Nike also increased its recycling and sustainability efforts. These actions show the move towards environmental sustainability made significant progress in 2011.

Progress was not made across all sectors  in the creation new green jobs, yet it was made on many fronts. Colleges worldwide began to create majors focusing on energy management and green technologies which can support environmental sustainability. Governments and entrepreneurs invested millions in green businesses. It all signals 2011 was a reasonable year for green jobs. We now look forward to growth in 2012, and hope that the green jobs agenda is promoted with full vigor. Bright Green Talent will play our role, and we encourage every form of organization to find a way of hiring staff who can develop alternative energy, eco efficient solutions and innovative green products. We need them more than ever.

Even in these tough economic times, transforming old inefficient businesses into more productive greener ones is an important step in the move towards environmental sustainability. Making this type of transition makes economic green dollars and environmental green sense. It also creates new green jobs and puts people to work conceptualizing, designing, building, installing and running these new green technologies. Businesses can make simple changes like transferring to green hosting to go to yahoo.green hosting.Visionary leaders understand and welcome the economic and social benefits of greening their infrastructure and are taking bold steps in that direction.

One such example of visionary leadership utilizing green technology to improve their infrastructure, increase their production capacity and create good green jobs is the changes taking place at the Spanish-owned electric utility company Scottish Power Energy Networks. Scotland has an old and inefficient electricity network. Led by chief executive Frank Mitchell, Scottish Power is working towards a new, more productive, energy efficient future for the company. They have announced a plan to invest £3 billion to upgrade Scotland’s ancient electricity network to utilize more renewable energy sources.

Scottish Power has begun the process of replacing about 500 miles of outdated and inefficient overhead lines and upgrading one fifth of its substation equipment. The upgrade to the more efficient technology will allow Scottish Power to add 11GW of renewable energy to the grid. The process will require the creation of 1,500 green jobs over the next 10 years. Scottish Power’s Frank Mitchell has stated the company is committed to hiring a younger workforce and providing them with the training to create a new generation of energy industry workers.
Upgrading the equipment will allow Scottish Power to increase transmission capacity between Scotland and England. It will allow the exchange of three times as much electricity between the two countries. A newer, stronger, more modern network to handle their renewable energy ambitions will be created. This greener network will let the companies that generate electricity more efficiently, reliably and cheaply provide energy to the homes and businesses that rely on them.

In 2009, Scotland exported £845 million in low-carbon and renewable energy goods, with wind at £112m and solar PV at £88m. Now, Scottish Power plans to hire an army of young graduate engineers and apprentices and retrain workers under age 25 to replace its aging workforce. Their goal is to ensure Scotland’s energy power grids will be able to adequately handle the energy needs of the 21st century and beyond through the use of new greener technologies.

Scotland is a very small country compared to the US, and we expect to see a massive demand for renewable energy experts over the next 10 years. If we are to build a bright green future we will need to transform our energy infrastructure and we can learn a lot from Europe. In Europe energy is far more expensive than in the US and this has helped to motivate change from government and business. We believe that government must support the same approach here. So why not get on board and help transform America. If you are interested in green jobs please click the button on the right of the screen and find the ideal opportunity in your location.

Everyone knows how tough the green job market is right now and it might take a while to find that perfect position. So the question is what do you do while you are waiting? You could consider another type of job, or do an internship but a number of your peers are also considering studying for a green MBA and other forms of sustainability education programs. The choices are increasing all the time and this is a good time to investigate this route in your career.

Investing in your education has always been a great option. In the gloom of the recession, I detect some light. Indeed, I feel that we might be at the dawn of a new era defined by a shift to “The Green Economy”. In the same way Franklin Roosevelt helped to lift the US out of the Depression with major investments in infrastructure and the military, it seems that President Obama believes that investment in Renewable Energy might have the same positive effect. His number one priority might be dealing with the current recession, yet he sees that the opportunity to build a new Green Economy checks many critical boxes for his new administration.

In theory, the Green Economy holds out the promise to create millions of new jobs, rebuild our infrastructure and bring us out of recession. The massive transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy could usher in a new age of prosperity, and create an industry far larger than information technology and the internet combined. President Elect Obama has promised to tackle the wide range of environmental problems we face, and has already delivered speeches pledging major new legislation to reduce carbon emissions.

Aside from the economic benefits, the Green Economy would enable us to become energy independent. There is a consensus across this country that the US can no longer depend on Foreign Oil, and political and military imperatives are contributing to the urgency for investment in Solar, Wind and Geothermal.

He will also be following his counterparts in Europe, where national and EU regulation and subsidies have driven much of the growth of the green sector. There is tremendous public support for change, founded on the almost universal acceptance that climate change is real. The Green Economy is not a Fad or the artifice of the progressive media. It is real, and it is what businesses and the public want. Increasingly, “Conscious Consumers” are voting with their dollars and large businesses like Wal-Mart are responding with extensive sustainability initiatives.

Our challenge is that the massive economic transition will not happen overnight, and the new Administration cannot be successful on its own. We need leaders across all sectors including government, non-profit, education and business. If we are to change our energy infrastructure, if we are to change our homes, our offices and our transport we will need to create millions of new green jobs. This will also require an unprecedented program of training and retraining in specific skills such as green building design, solar installation and energy efficiency.

Above all, we will need to develop new leaders. In a previous article I introduced the term “Bright Green Leaders”. They share a bright, positive vision of a green future where society has shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and environmental protection is a top priority. Bright Green Leaders believe we can solve our environmental problems through innovation, design, creativity and the mobilization of people, finance and organizational resources. They dedicate their careers and towards leading their organizations, communities and families to a bright green future in both the private and public sectors.

Currently, there are very few of these leaders and there is a pressing need for a new type of education to provide many more. At many types of Sustainable MBA program  across the globe, there is a push to train these leaders to build the Green Economy, and our mission at Bright Green is to educate Bright Green Leaders in the following core competences

How to Present the Business Case for Green

Managers and Executives will need to demonstrate the Green Advantage, and ensure their strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility incorporates specific benefits, such as how the business will reduce expenses and increase profits.  The ethical case for sustainability is compelling, yet is insufficient without clear evidence of a return on investment. Bright Green leaders are still measured by the same metrics as every one else. They will enjoy the same financial, strategic and management capabilities as other MBA graduates, with the added specialist expertise of how to apply these capabilities to promoting sustainable and CSR practices to  achieve competitive advantage for their organizations.

How to Innovate

Every business has the potential to go Green.  There are obvious “short-term wins” like reducing energy use, car pooling or a recycling scheme. The broader, strategic opportunity lies in Innovation. What new sustainable products or services can we provide? How can we green our Supply Chain? How can we restructure our business model to reduce energy and create an authentic green brand?

Currently, the Auto Industry is being forced to confront these questions. There is pressure on the Big 3 to make more fuel-efficient cars if they want to be major players over the long-term.In contrast, Toyota has relentlessly pursued a strategy of Green Innovation over the last decade and their success, especially in comparison to GM and Ford, is clear.

Such case studies will form the basis of  a good Green MBA program, and we will be compiling many more from every industry and every size of business.

How to Lead Change

Introducing Corporate Social Responsibility into a business requires much more than switching light bulbs or putting recycle bins in the canteen. Genuine change occurs when leaders create a vision, communicate values and help to change employee attitudes and behaviors.  Green MBA programs need to focus strongly on change management, communication and employee engagement. At green business schools, we are harnessing our extensive experience in the field of coaching, consulting and organizational psychology. We are calling on the legacy of former teachers such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers to develop the interpersonal skills to bring about real change with all stakeholders.

Moreover, in the spirit of our tradition, it seems that a green MBA puts our graduates in a strong position to satisfy each of Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. In the emerging Green Economy, our graduates will be better placed to satisfy their physiological and safety needs by enhancing their chances of finding a job and achieving job security. They will satisfy their Social needs by being part of a new movement of Green Leaders, and their Esteem needs through the recognition of their contribution both to profitability and the environment. Above all, they increase their potential for self-actualization. They will be engaging their values and their passion at work. They will no longer need to choose between the financial appeal of a business and the ethical appeal of a non-profit. With a Bright Green MBA they can have the best of both worlds, and achieving career success and personal fulfillment.

Here at Bright Green, we plant a tree after successfully recruiting new, talented leaders into select, thriving, green businesses.  It’s a nice reminder, that while we tend to keep an eye on the bigger picture, an entire forest is comprised of many individual trees.

When we think of renewable energy and the wind industry, we think of the forest, or the large scale wind farms, which are immensely beneficial, yet face criticism due to the minor environmental impact they allegedly cause to the landscape.  One ancient town in Italy is actually making money off their turbines and Elizabeth Rosenthal talks about smaller design developments in her NY Times blog article Thinking Smaller, and Still Smaller, on Wind Power.

Smaller projects also exist here in the United States and are having an incredibly positive impact on our people and our planet.  Northern Power Systems in Warren, VT has many worthy community projects such as these and the Village of Cascade is one such example:

Faced with rising power costs and a volatile energy future, the Village of Cascade trustees were determined to offer forward thinking solutions to the same dogged question—how to pay for their community’s assets? The answer was apparently blowing in the wind and across a small hill where the village’s wastewater treatment plant is located. Two community friendly Northwind 100 turbines were purchased to generate all the energy required to power the facility’s aeration system, making it the first net-zero energy wastewater plant in the state of Wisconsin. The Village of Cascade will save approximately $30,000 a year with their two Northwind 100 turbines, a significant amount for a community with an annual town budget of $330,000.

With each powerful leader, with each tree or turbine, we are moving the needle towards the solution.

Two Texas oil companies are spending millions on Prop. 23, an initiative that will kill California’s clean energy and air pollution control standards. Prop. 23, The Texas Oil Companies’ Dirty Energy Proposition will allow polluters to avoid our state’s clean energy standards, kill competition and jobs from California’s emerging clean technology companies, and keep us addicted to dirty, costly oil.

Join the campaign to stop Prop 23.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, this year’s extreme heat is putting the world’s coral reefs under such severe stress that scientists fear widespread die-offs, endangering not only the richest ecosystems in the ocean but also fisheries that feed millions of people.  The heat is causing extreme bleaching of the reefs, drastically affecting the marine life.  While coral reefs occupy a tiny fraction of the ocean, they are the home to approximately a quarter of all marine species, including a abundance of fish.  Reefs are often referred to as the rain forests of the sea, as they are the foundation not only of important fishing industries but also of tourist economies worth billions.  Scientists have linked the trouble with the reefs to climate change.

Often amidst the flurry of our busy lives, we fail to take note of many things, particularly those that are not immediately visible to us.  The direct link between the bleaching of our corral reefs to climate change reminds us, yet again, that it is time to take notice.  Moreover, it is a call for action.

Here at Bright Green Talent we hear that call to action.  And, we answer it by serving as a trusted advisor to this critical, newly emerging market – ensuring that the right leaders are being recruited and retained, to further the development of alternative energies, greener buildings and sustainable development.   The time is now.

For three years, I’ve run a green job placement agency in San Francisco: Bright Green Talent (shameless plug, apologies). So when San Francisco’s own Byron York broadsided green jobs — “whatever they are” — as poorly defined and understood by the very government financing and supporting them, I felt obliged to step in and ask a couple questions of Mr. York:

1) What’s your definition? And why are we debating this to begin with? Please, Mr. York, at a time of painfully high unemployment, lets not get caught on the semantics, and instead get behind the effort to put people back to work.
2) At a time of environmental devastation writ large, why shouldn’t we pursue green jobs? Green jobs — however they manifest themselves –- are part of the solution.

If Mr. York can’t decode “green jobs” by walking around San Francisco, then I’d invite him to join me for a day of volunteering with SF Rec and Park department, where he can get a first-hand view of what frontline green jobs look like across the economic spectrum — from volunteerism to gardening to high level management and strategy.

To those of you out there keeping the “green job” faith — rock steady. The tide’s turning, and green shoots are sprouting — it’s just a matter of time until the whole world comes to understand the impact green jobs can have on our economy, environment, and souls. And if you want to be on the frontlines of environmental change, join a generation of change makers finding new, more meaningful gigs at Job Rooster.

Here’s to being part of the solution…

Plenty of Advice…
It’s tough to avoid the influx of career advice these days – it seems to have infiltrated all my LinkedIn groups and there is no limit of people offering free webinars, paid events, etc. Through my coaching, I have had to re-work many resumes that people paid (top dollar!) to have created for them. And I am happy to report that at this point, I can sniff out a ‘professionally’ done resume which more often than not, is not a good thing since those resumes are often filled with phrases like:

- Self-Starter
- Top Performer
- High-Level Strategist
- Critical Thinker
- Strategic Visionary
- and the list goes on and on…

Ugh, Those Catch Phrases
Usually, my job involves parsing out which of these are truly and authentically, the main points that the individual is really ‘selling’ themselves on and then, figuring out how to weave those ideas into the content of the resume where these attributes can be tied to actual experiences rather than rattled off as list of attributes we would all love to have. Vindication arrived this week for me in the form of an article titled, “Catch Phrases That May Bust Your Resume,” arguing the same exact thing and I thought…Finally!!

How does this apply to you?
As is often the case, this issue is ubiquitous whether you are applying to jobs focused on sustainability, social impact or other. So I encourage you to take a look at your resume and consider:

- Are there words or phrases in there that don’t mean much?
- What do you REALLY want to convey to the reader and are you doing that by embedding those ideas where the work or experience happened?

If you put in the time to make your resume do all this, I can assure you, it will be much more powerful making the time invested well worth it!

So we’re out there trying to “save the earth” everyday with our work. And every April 22nd, we see this cornucopia of folks feed their message into our movement’s daily alms, and offer up a new way to help us in our mission. What’s most worrying to me is that a lot of folks are using today as little more than a public relations day.

We’ve debated this question of “authenticity” internally for years. There’s no easy answer. Ultimately I come down on the belief that however you become an environmentalist, it’s a good thing. If that happens through a corporate revivalist effort to greenwash products and services on Earth Day, but ultimately ends as you becoming the internal advocate for real change, then so be it. “The path is long and winding”, as we all know.

So with that in mind, our hope at BGT is that folks take a few minutes to think through their environmental commitment both today, and every day. Meditate on what it means to be green, and when you do next act, act with purpose and commitment. It’s a big task we’re undertaking, and many hands make light work. Lets just make sure that we’re all working together, daily, so that this dream of “saving the Earth” can become more than a catchphrase or one-day effort — we want saving the Earth to become a reality.