Toyota Prius Tax Credit

Although many new green jobs are yet to grow out of the imagination of innovators and entrepreneurs, a good number of green jobs are already waiting to be filled. Some green career opportunities are simply a matter of adapting existing training and experience – such as sales, management, engineering and marketing – to green organizations. Other green jobs do require special skills, such as installing solar panels; but with newly allocated federal funding, education programs are cropping up all over the country to provide the necessary training.

Green Jobs Retrofitting Existing Buildings

“Let’s be clear,” says Jones. “The main piece of technology in the green economy is the caulk gun. Hundreds of thousands of green-collar jobs will be weathering and energy-retrofitting every building in the United States.” Most private, commercial and municipal buildings leak energy through ill-fitting windows and doors, poor insulation and inefficient appliances.

Analysts estimate that energy-efficient retrofitting and weatherization can cut energy use – and cost – by 30 percent or more saving billions of barrels of oil and reducing energy bills. Some savings are immediate. According to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, “If you purchase and install certain energy-efficient windows, insulation, doors, roofs, or heating and cooling equipment, you can receive a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500.”