Van Jones Foresees More Green Jobs

Van Jones, the special adviser to the White House for for green jobs, enterprise, and innovation, spoke recently on the economic ramifications of the new policies of the Obama administration. This speech was given in front of the Bentley University Leadership Forum in Massachusetts.

Van Jones believes that a "riptide of innovation" is flowing through the business community concerning green technology.  This new era of innovation will rapidly change the energy sector into something "unrecognizable."  The reason for this is the new sources of energy innovation in solar, wind, geothermal, wave and tidal power, and "smart biofuels."

The potential for new jobs in this field are endless.  From innovation in the science of energy, to production of energy and installation of local technology all these areas require specialized individuals to operate these functions.  Workers will need different levels of education for these divergent career paths; offering opportunities to a broad cross section of the citizenry.  Van Jones argued that this will encompass "GEDs to Ph.D.s."

Van Jones did warn of the coming opposition from those that wish to keep the status quo. These adversaries will try "economic fear-mongering" to persuade the public into scaling back the adoption of these innovative technologies. Van Jones did comment that some heavy industries will be motivated to invest in technologies that make them operate more efficiently, which typically have a relatively fast payback