Economist Struggles to Define What Exactly is a Green Job

Nicholas Jolly is trying to define exactly what is a green job, but he isn't having much success.

"Defining a job as green is difficult, for green is becoming ubiquitous, encompassing many areas of the economy," Jolly, an economist for the Connecticut Department of Labor, writes in the December issue of The Connecticut Economic Digest.

Everyone agrees that environmental engineering is a green job, but does a construction worker who maintains green building practices hold a green job? Jolly observes that

standard occupational and industrial codes do not exist that differentiate green construction workers from traditional ones. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to estimate the number of environmentally friendly construction jobs. However, there are predefined codes for environmental engineers, thus making it easy to count the number of these occupations.

Further complicating matters are those hybrid jobs, such as an autoworker who one day assembles cars running on biofuels but the next day builds gas-powered vehicles. And, how about the office clerks, accountants, custodians and other non-production workers employed at a company producing fuel cells; should their jobs count as green? Adds Jolly:

It is impossible to count the number of green jobs because this employment category is not dichotomous, and researchers cannot draw a clear distinction between green and non-green jobs. What is also clear, however, is that companies and consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and this will affect the labor market through some job creation, but, to a much greater extent, by changing the nature of existing occupations.

So, can economist estimate the number of green jobs in Connecticut? Sort of. One method using the North American Industrial Classification System, concludes that 22,373 people, or just over 1% of the state's workforce, were employed by companies that produced products or services that contribute directly to preserving and enhancing the quality of the environment, or green industries.