* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: President Rawlings-Blake
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Baltimore City Green Collar Jobs Creation Coalition
FOR the purpose of requesting the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of the Department of Public Works, the Director of the Department of Transportation, and the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools to form a coalition to develop a plan to create green collar jobs in Baltimore City.
Body
Recitals
Green-Collar Jobs in America's Cities: Building Pathways Out of Poverty and Careers in the Clean Energy Economy, a publication of the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America, reports that the American Solar Energy Society estimates that in 2006 alone, renewable energy and energy efficiency were responsible for $970 billion in industry revenues and 8.5 million jobs. And that, America's growing green economy faces a looming labor shortage in sectors like manufacturing, construction, and installation. In a 2005 survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, 90% of the respondents indicated a moderate to severe shortage of qualified, skilled production employees, like machinists and technicians. Furthermore, Tom Friedman, author of best seller, Hot Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Change America asserts that "ET, energy technology, is going to be the next IT. The next great industrial revolution. And [whichever city or country] dominates that economic revolution, is going to have the most security, the most respect, the most competitive industry, and the most healthy population."
The National Renewable Energy Lab also identified a shortage of skills and training as a leading barrier to renewable energy and energy efficiency growth. Experts predict that this labor shortage is only likely to get more severe as baby boomers skilled in current energy technologies retire - in the power sector, alone, nearly one-quarter of the current work force will be eligible for retirement in the next 5 to 7 years. In response to America's growing commitment to producing clean energy, to fighting climate change, and to providing employment, Congress passed the Green collar jobs Act of 2007 (GJA) that authorized $125 million per year to create an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training program.
The GJA took a progressive step in working to establish an initial pilot program to provide direct services and funding to the states to identify needed skills, develop training programs, and train workers for jobs in a range of industries - including energy efficient buildings, construction and retrofits, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, biofuels, and manufacturing that produces sustainable products and uses sustainable processes and materials. It targets a broad range of populations for eligibility, but has a special focus on creating "green pathways out of poverty."
Green Collar Jobs: An Analysis of the Capacity of Green Businesses to Provide High Quality Jobs for Men and Women with Barriers to Employment, a case study of Berkeley, California, found that the significant problems of poverty and unemployment in Berkeley and other Bay Area cities create an urgent need for a new source of living wage jobs for low income residents, with barriers to employment. There, as in Baltimore City, this population includes youth and adults who do not have a high school degree, have been out the labor market for a long time, were formally incarcerated, have limited education and/or labor market skills. The report describes a category of jobs with significant potential to fill this need - green collar jobs.
Green collar jobs are blue collar jobs in green businesses - "manual labor jobs in businesses whose products and services directly improve environmental quality." The leading authority on green collar jobs has identified 22 different sectors of the U.S. economy that currently provide workers with green collar jobs: bicycle repair and bike delivery services; car and truck mechanic jobs, production jobs, and gas-station jobs related to bio-diesel, vegetable oil and other alternative fuels; energy retro-fits to increase energy efficiency and conservation; food production using organic and/or sustainably grown agriculture products; furniture making from environmentally certified and recycled wood; green building; green waste composting on a large scale; hauling and reuse of construction and demolition materials and debris; hazardous material clean up; green (sustainable) landscaping; manufacturing jobs related to large scale production of a wide range of appropriate technologies; materials reuse/producing products made from recycled, non-toxic materials; non-toxic household cleaning in residential and commercial buildings; parks and open space maintenance and expansion; printing with non-toxic inks and dyes and recycled papers; public transit jobs; recycling; solar installation and maintenance; tree cutting and pruning; per-urban and urban agriculture; water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation; and whole home performance (i.e.: HVAC, attic installation, weatherization, etc.).
The Baltimore City Green Collar Jobs Creation Coalition is charged with examining this segment of the labor market, identifying the needs of businesses located in the City, developing appropriate training programs, and working with the private sector, public sector, and organized labor to provide Baltimore City's unemployed or under-employed residents with gainful employment opportunities.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of the Department of Public Works, the Director of the Department of Transportation, and the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools are requested to form a coalition to develop a plan to create green collar jobs in Baltimore City.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of the Department of Public Works, the Director of the Department of Transportation, the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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