What Qualifies as a "Green Job"?

On June 17, the House of Representatives debated HB 3300, a bill to instruct the State Workforce Investment Board to develop a plan to promote the growth of green jobs. The bill specifically requires the Board to define green jobs and green economy to enable the state to direct resources toward related workforce development activities.

However, as this clip demonstrates, the definition of a green job is subjective. Rep. Matt Wingard asks the Democratic sponsor of the bill whether Oregonians working in natural resources, agriculture and other industries would qualify as having green jobs. After dodging the question, it took another Democrat to get the sponsor to admit that the definition would likely be narrowed to existing jobs in selected sectors- excluding the thousands of Oregonians who work with renewable resources every day.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• matt wingard
• oregon
• legislature
• green jobs
• green economy