Will Climate Savvy Graduates Enjoy an Edge in the Job Market?

According to a report published by Dr. Daniel Kammen and other researchers at the University of Berkeley in April 2004, “Putting Renewables to Work: How Many Jobs Can the Clean Energy Industry Generate?”, investment in clean, renewable energy will create 240,000 new jobs by 2020. That is ten times more positions than the fossil fuel sector is expected to generate over the same time period. Overall, according to the Environmental Careers Organization (ECO), the environmental protection field employs 2.5 million people and the industry generates $172 billion in annual revenues. That is more than the petroleum or aerospace industries. A large retirement wave, moreover, is expected in the natural resource and environmental fields within the next decade that will make even more jobs available to well prepared graduates. So the answer appears to be a resounding, “yes!” Colleges and universities that invest in climate action and literacy will have better prepared their students for exciting new jobs in clean energy, conservation and related fields available now and in the very near future.