The President’s Address and Green Jobs
What would it take to spur change? President Barack Obama spoke last week brilliantly about where he is hoping to take the nation. In his address he mentioned green jobs and our push toward becoming number one in the green sector. As I watched I thought this was brilliant another opportunity to push a vision. This vision is very aspirational when considering the size and consumption level of this wonderful country. However this is a great idea to pursue with implications towards a bright future.
After watching the speech I wanted to find other discussions or general information regarding green jobs on college campuses. Through a bit of Web surfing I pulled in a blog that highlights the discussion of green jobs. This particular blog did a great job of touching on the transition of brown to green jobs. I think it would be very interesting to see how campuses are creating these jobs and whether they are being fueled by green funding.
During the President’s address I pondered two questions:
Question #1-Have we reached the tipping point in regards to how green jobs are advertised? What I’m trying to say is in this economy are green jobs just jobs? I think we have moved passed the label far enough that we often do not notice the green unless its explicitly spelled out.
Question #2-How well do green positions fold into the housing and residential life organizational chart? In other words are green positions becoming stand alone positions or are they still seen as a collateral assignments for housing and residential life professionals?
Progress is good but with the current economy I could understand why there may be hesitation in reorganizing the organization and adding a position. However there is serious value in recruiting our incoming green students into our greening residential communities. They will consume less. With this in mind it would be important to consider creatively positioning our organizations now to focus our efforts on attracting these students to live with us now and possibly work for us in the future.
This is my first blog contribution to the sustainability discussion/green movement. I have to admit that just typing this post feels fresh and green.
Hope to post more.
Tags: Sustainability