Green jobs: women and minorities left out?

Green jobs don’t have to leave out women and minorities, according to a case study released by the Applied Research Center today.

The report, by senior research associate Yvonne Yen Liu, profiled the work of the community organization Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education and the Los Angeles chapter of the Apollo Alliance in helping to pass a green retrofit ordinance for municipal buildings.

The Applied Research Center, a racial justice think tank based in New York, said in “Greening Los Angeles” that women and minorities are often left out of the green economy. Of the people employed in green industries and occupations, blacks and Latinos make up less than 30%. Black women fill just 1.5% of energy sector jobs, while Latinas occupy 1% and Asian women take up 0.7%.

For more information about green jobs – where they are, how to prepare for them and how to land them – read this story from Sunday’s Business section.

The federal government gave out around $5.5 million in grants Wednesday to encourage green jobs training.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: Jesus Rosales, a member of La Causa, works to replace a leaking window in a home that his group has renovated using green technology. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[Eco Friend]

This easy to read, fully illustrated color workbook brings green job and career opportunities to the reach of the disadvantaged populations. Available at amazon.com

[JA]

I am a chick who'd like a green energy job. I don't want to install solar, that seems to be the only job right now. What about managing a solar business - there is no degrees for that right now. No one is helping me, that's for darn sure. I'm sure for minorities, too. Same thing during the tech boom, only the guys had those jobs, imo.

[steve]

What a mess this one is!

Joe

[Yvonne Liu]

Thank you so much for spotlighting our "Green Equity Toolkit: Standards and Strategies for Advancing Race, Gender, and Economic Equity in the Green Economy" by the Applied Research Center (ARC), available for free download at http://www.arc.org/greenjobs. We're a racial justice think tank that works at the nexus of media and activism, with offices in Oakland, CA and New York.

With regards to others' comments, in order for us all to prosper from the green economy, those most affected by the recession must benefit. Studies show that cities and regions with high racial, gender, and economic inequities don't grow, sustainably.

Lots of Recovery Act monies are available for green job creation, $200 billion, in fact. The mandate from the Obama administration is that it benefit those hardest hit by the Great Recession. And, who is that? ARC released a report in May 2009 on "Race and Recession: How Inequity Rigged the Economy and How to Change the Rules", available at http://www.arc.org/recession. The report documents that people of color and women are hurting the most because of the economic downturn.

In order to have a truly green economy, which protects the planet and also lifts and sustains all communities, we need to ensure that race, gender, and economic equity are a key part.

[Tara]

Isn't the Times using code in this article? "Left out" for "disciminated against", for e.g. Apparently the editors give free rein to their writers to embed their bias into the news. BTW: competency and skill win out in a well-paying, new job market, not demographics.

[PC BS]

White men left out of the DMV, Post Office & teaching jobs?

Asians left out of the NBA?

Jews left out of coal mines?

Women left out of prisons?

Someday white men will be in the minority (wait, that was always the case), and will be able to sue for equal representation in companies started by women & 'minorities'. Where are those firms again?

[Paul]

I agree with the previous posts. Blacks are 15% of the population, but want 51% of the jobs...While latinos are just happy to work.

Affirmative Action is BS and giving a person job based on Race should be illegal. Those who are best qualified and have the training should get them job. The President got the job cause he was the best candidate, not because of his race.

[fred]

When consider that blacks and latinos make up roughly 30 percent of the population, that sounds about right. Quit your whining.

[What Irony !]

Looks like all five bloggers on this site are female, perhaps discrimination against men ? See how easy it is to point fingers ?

[fredyt3]

Here's the issue.........that unfortunately doesn't make the news and skips past many.......obviously the economy is still very much in the tank and the hunt for employment is very competitive - that's fair and the best shoud be rewarded. The spirit of using taxpayer money should translate that fair shares of our population should be afforded opportunities to participate and perform, as long as they are qualified (which is a no brainer because most if not qualified could be qualified) . It's not if we're looking for the best idea to get the hell out of Irag or figure how to make gasoline affordable!!!! Of course, those not feeling this perspective or those companies who feel such a strategy is flawed or they cannot commit to spreading opportunities are free to use their own funds.....because they have no obligation to anyone other than those they feel are "the most qualified" or only those they are comfortable with, which for the most part eliminates the unknown talent that all groups possess. Where is the political leadership who represents those left out and who surely voted to use taxpayer money in the disguise of creating opportunity for all??????knowing full well what the outcome would be?????

[Mike P]

Why do you depict certain groups as "left out" ? Perhaps a low number of people from these groups are interested in such jobs. For example....

How many Asian people do you see in the NFL ?
How many white people do you see in the NBA ?
How many Scandinavian people do you see harvesting fields ?

[Nicholas]

If women and minorities are not getting green jobs, perhaps they should learn the skills needed to get those jobs.

[olivia gonzales]

I think US citizens should be given first priority over everyone else for jobs created by the US government.

The statistics of only 30 percent are Latinos/Blacks, that shouldnt be interpreted that they are being discriminated because of their ethnicity.

There are Latinos who represent themselves as whites and there are Latinos who changed their names to caucasian names so I would bet that the population of US citizens' race or ethnicity are well represented.

If among US Citizens, 40 percent are truly Caucasians, 30 are Latinos who call themselves whites, 15 percent are blacks, 10 percent Latinos who call themselves Latinos, 5 percent Asians ( if there are Asians in that job market) that numbers are probably the numbers you would find in the US census report.

[Oh Please]

Seriously, will the Left ever be happy? If there were a cure for prostate cancer tomorrow they would just complain that breast cancer should have been cured first.

It just goes to prove that liberals are not about progress but are instead devoted to dividing society and themselves. I will sit back and gleefully watch their infighting.