Located in the heart of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the popular Carnegie Mellon University. The university has long been in line with the sustainable activities undertaken by the entire state of Pennsylvania. Carnegie Mellon University realizes that in order for students to live sustainable lives outside of the university, they need to learn all they can about sustainability while in the university. Therefore, Carnegie Mellon University has set up a number of sustainability initiatives to not only make the university a much more sustainable place for the environment and future students, but also teach current students on what they can do to live a more environmentally sustainable life.

1) Carnegie Mellon University Office of Sustainability. The Carnegie Mellon Office of Sustainability, also known as the Green Practices Committee, is part of the strategic initiative to enhance the impact and the scope of education and research programs that are related to the environment. The objective of the Green Practices Committee is to “strive to develop university practices that improve environmental quality, decrease waste, and conserve natural resources and energy, thereby establishing Carnegie Mellon as a practical model for other universities and companies.” Through the increase of sustainability on campus, it is the hope of the university to enhance campus life as well as the infrastructure of the university.

2) Administration. At Carnegie Mellon University, the administration is working alongside the Green Practices Committee diligently to create a number of initiatives. The administration has also recently expanded the student-led eco-reps program and established a number of Green Teams throughout all the departments in an effort to encourage faculty and staff to reduce their total environmental impact. The university remains committed to increasing sustainable efforts for formal mission statements and a master plan for the campus

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3) Climate Change and Energy. Carnegie Mellon University has established a number of ways to reduce energy and thereby reduce carbon dioxide emissions. For instance, the university uses a series of digital controls for all HVAC systems throughout the buildings, and they have also installed lighting retrofits and steam line insulation in almost 100 percent of buildings. As well, all vending machines located in 80 percent of all buildings have sensors so they do not waste electricity when not in use. Approximately 75 percent of the power used at the university is purchased through wind power.

4) Food and Recycling. At Carnegie Mellon University, 32 percent of the Dining Service’s annual food budget is put toward the purchase of local products. 65 percent of all pre-consumer and post consumer food scraps are composted, and approximately 90 percent of all meals served in the dining facilities on campus are trayless. Two of the dormitories on the university have compost bins located outside. All printers on campus are set at default to print on both sides in order to reduce waste. All cardboard during the move in period is collected and then recycled. All unwanted items at the conclusion of the academic year are donated.

5) Green Building. The objective of Carnegie Mellon University is to have all new buildings constructed to meet the LEED Silver Certification standards as listed by the United States Green Building Council. Currently, there are ten LEED buildings throughout the campus, and there are two buildings that are expected to achieve LEED Platinum Certification. To reduce water use throughout the dormitories, all washing machines are energy and water efficient. 80 percent of all showerheads in all dormitories are low-flow, and approximately 50 percent of all buildings have water metering systems. There is also a student garden that is irrigated using rainwater.

6) Student Involvement. There are a number of groups on campus that work on various sustainability initiatives. For example, there are groups to get rid of bottled water from the university campus, create a garden on campus, organize a zero-waste luncheon, and develop a course for credit known as “Environment Today.” Those students that are interested in maintaining sustainability can opt to live in the Green Connections hallways or the Neville Co-op.

7) Transportation. The students, faculty, administration, and staff are given free passes to use the public transportation system in the area. They also get free shuttle services to all off-campus destinations from the university. All carpoolers receive decreased parking rates for on-campus parking rates and they get pre-validated parking tickets for the days when people need to bring in their own vehicles. Carnegie Mellon University also partners with a prominent car-sharing program.

8 ) Solar Panels on South Craig Street. Just recently, a solar panel roof installation was placed on South Craig Street at the university. It was done part of a $88,000 Energy Harvest grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The solar panels will feed directly into the power supply of the buildings as a large part of looking to reduce fossil fuels used by the Carnegie Mellon building. This building is right now home to the university’s SCS Interactive Systems Lab as well as the Institute for Software Research International.

9) Green Teams at Carnegie Mellon. The Green Teams at Carnegie Mellon is a volunteer group made up of students, faculty, administration and staff within a specific department of the university, so there are a number of green teams that all work together in helping the university become much more sustainable. Every team does an environmental sustainable assessment to locate all the areas in need of improvement, including indoor air quality, energy, waste management, lights, green purchasing, commuting, as well as general workplace practices.

10) Green Roofs. Carnegie Mellon University has a number of green roofs throughout the campus, including at Doherty Hall, Gates Center, Posner Center, Porter Hall, Mellon Institute, and Hamerschlag Hall. The green roofs on these buildings aid in reducing heating and cooling energy consumption, protecting the roof’s structural elements from ultraviolet rays, extending the overall lifespan of the roof, and lowering stormwater waste streams. The eventual goal is to have every roof of every building on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus become a green roof and add to the sustainability of the university.

Article by Shawn Lesser, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Atlanta-based Watershed Capital Group – an investment bank assisting sustainable fund and companies raise capital, perform acquisitions, and in other strategic financial decisions. He is also a Co-founder of the GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association ”The Global Voice of Cleantech”. He writes for various cleantech publications and is known as the David Letterman of Cleantech for his “Top 10″ series. He can be reached at shawn@watershedcapital.com

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American University is located right in the nation’s capital – Washington DC. Because of Washington DC’s recognition as a leader in the clean technology and sustainability movement in the United States, American University has long believed that it needs to do its part to bolster Washington DC’s status as not only the capital of the United States, but also the capital of sustainability. American University has long been at the forefront of university leaders in the sustainability list. It has received top rankings on the College Sustainability Report Card as well as a host of awards and recognitions for all it has done. Listed below are just a few of the sustainability initiatives at American Univeristy.

1 ) American University Office of Sustainability. American University houses their Office of Sustainability right on campus. As one of the greenest universities in the United States, it is only fitting that American University has an Office of Sustainability that aids in building a university campus whereby the students and faculty work together to clean up the campus and make it much more sustainable. The work done by the Office of Sustainability “celebrates the abundance of nature by building a campus community of leaders, who work to clean our air and water, cool our atmosphere, and produce fertile land and habitat.” Some of the areas the office focuses on include buildings, dining, energy, purchasing, recycling, water, and transportation.

2 ) Administration. The administration at American University has adopted a number of policies regarding different aspects of sustainability, including green cleaning, green building, zero-waste, and sustainable purchasing policies. The administration also makes certain that the university only purchases electronics and appliances that are Energy Star Certified. As well, the university only purchases EPEAT Gold Certified computers, and recycled paper towels and toilet paper. The administration also created a Clean Energy Revolving Fund to finance new sustainability projects.

3 ) Climate Change and Energy. American University looks to become the first carbon neutral campus in the United States by the year 2020. To get to this, the university has implemented a number of energy conserving technologies, including back pressure turbines, cogeneration, as well as placing energy management systems in a number of the buildings. Most of the energy utilized by the campus is generated via a rooftop solar array as well as a solar hot water system. In 2010, American University became the first university in the United States to purchase 100 percent energy credits in wind energy.

4 ) Food and Recycling. The Dining Services at American University spends over 25 percent of its annual food budget on local products. A majority of the produce used by the dining staff comes from the garden located right on campus. The dining halls only serve cage-free eggs, sustainably harvested seafood, as well as antibiotic-free and hormone-free milk. All dining halls are trayless and all food scraps are composted. Recently there was a 12 week food waste reduction campaign to cut food waste by ten percent. More than 65 percent of all waste on campus is recycled.

5 ) Green Building. All new constructions on the American University campus, as well as all major renovations, need to at least meet the LEED Silver Certification guidelines as set up by the United States Green Building Council. To date, 40 buildings are LEED registered in the LEED Volume Pilot program. The university has also installed weather-informed irrigation systems and low-flow faucets. There are a number of green roofs, vegetated swales, and porous pavement around campus that manage storm water.

6 ) Student Involvement. Students if they would like, can opt to live in the Sustainable Earth Hallways at American University. Just launched by the university is the Green Eagles eco-rep program. There is also the Eco-Sense student group that leads an eco-certification program for all university offices. Student groups have also launched campaigns against bottled water and started a farmer’s market on campus.

7 ) Transportation. American University has a ride-sharing website that provides discounts on rates as well as preferential parking spots for people who carpool to work. The university also provides students and employees with discounts on public transportation. As well, the university partners with a car-sharing program, and there is a student-run bicycle-lending program which is completely free.

8 ) Green Cleaning. American University realizes that conventional cleaning products may contribute to a number of health problems, including cancer and asthma, and are also very unsafe for the environment. By utilizing safer cleaning chemicals, the university can improve their indoor air quality and the environment at the same time. For this reason, American University has set up a green cleaning program whereby the maintenance staff only uses Green Seal Certified cleaning products that are nationally recognized for the benefits provided to individuals as well as the environment. The maintenance staff is also efficiently trained on how to handle chemicals properly and how to minimize areas where dirt can build up, thereby eliminating the constant need for chemical cleaners.

9 ) Green Office Program. The Office of Sustainability at American University recently launched the Green Office Program to assist the faculty and staff at the university “green up” their departments as well as their office spaces. The Green Office Program provides insight on how offices can mitigate the environmental impact in their department, such as using recycled paper products, double sided printing of documents, reducing margins to save paper, using scrap papers, or requesting vegetable-based or soy-based inks for print jobs as they reduce the amount of VOCs emitted during the printing process.

10 ) Earth Week. Every year, American University participates in Earth Week. Each day, a different topic regarding sustainability is focused on. There is a “passport of events” where students can find out what is going on. Topics focused on every year include energy and conservation, transportation, food and water, and different services. There are a variety of workshops, such as collecting trash to be recycled around campus and helping with the green roofs around campus. There is also tree planting events, visits to the solar panels, and a number of guest speakers on topics regarding sustainability.

Article by Shawn Lesser, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Atlanta-based Watershed Capital Group – an investment bank assisting sustainable fund and companies raise capital, perform acquisitions, and in other strategic financial decisions. He is also a Co-founder of the GCCA Global Cleantech Cluster Association ”The Global Voice of Cleantech”. He writes for various cleantech publications and is known as the David Letterman of Cleantech for his “Top 10″ series. He can be reached at shawn@watershedcapital.com

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A new website called SaveUSAWindJobs launched by the American Wind Energy Association aims at involving Americans with wind power and put pressure on government to extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC), wind power’s key federal tax incentive.

There has been a huge growth in the wind power manufacturing sector, which currently provides 75,000 jobs. It is estimated the sector could create another 500,000 jobs in the next 20 years. But without fiscal support it may not happen.

Past experience showed than when PTC was allowed to expire, wind installations dropped between 73 and 93 per cent. The website provides detailed information on this issue, including a visual depiction of what it calls a “preventable boom-bust cycle”. It also features a 90-second video explaining how wind energy means jobs, and how the PTC is a key driver of job creation.

“The SaveUSAWindJobs website is a powerful tool for the overwhelming majority of Americans who say they want more wind power,” said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. “The need for a PTC extension is urgent. I ask everyone who supports more clean, homegrown wind power and more American manufacturing jobs to engage their Members of Congress by tapping into this valuable resource.”

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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When a form of technology becomes outdated, jobs in that industry are inevitably lost. However, this is only one side of the coin, as jobs are often created in the exact same way and, the good news is, that these jobs require previously unconsidered skill sets. It almost goes without saying that with the shift toward clean energy usage, the onus is on the clean technology sector to create green jobs.

In the down-spinning economy, clean technology has been a rock. In fact, clean technology continues to be one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. Worldwide, investments in clean technology grew 12 percent in the Q3 of 2011, even as other sectors were tanking around the world. This growth started a few years back and continues to hold strong. In fact, in 2007, the clean technology industry in the United States grew three times as fast as the country’s economy.

Of course, there are stories of failure in the clean technology segment – such as the recent demise of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra – but there are also stories of success. Consider Noveda Technologies, whose real-time, online energy monitoring technology allows users get a better understanding of both their building’s impact on the environment and how they might improve it. Oh, and they can actually see their carbon footprint reduction and utility bill savings – right before their very eyes.

With all this being said, there is no question that clean technology would get even more of a push from the federal government if more consistent clean energy requirements were enacted. In this sense President Barack Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative, which rewards the use of non-traditional energy sources, is a step in the right direction. But more such guidelines need to be brought forth.

Part of the problem is that when legislation that limits the use of old energies comes into play, the loss of jobs that inevitably occurs gets foregrounded by pundits. For example, when President Obama unveiled his sorely needed energy policy in February 2011, CNN talking heads opined that biofuels have been a “colossal failure.” The news network also focused on the bankruptcy of Solyndra as a symbolic example of what happens when people invest in clean energy.

It’s time we focus on the companies that are putting people back to work in industries that benefit every person on this planet. There will always be naysayers to seek out and discuss the “wrongs” of the world.

What if we shifted our focus to the benefits new industries are having on the economy and the world at large? Up and comers with new ideas regarding clean technology are thriving under these conditions. New industries are created in this way. Let’s be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Article by Bari Faye Siegel, a technology writer and marketing consultant at Noveda Technologies, an innovative leader in real-time, web-based energy management, solar PV monitoring and water management. Noveda also offers real-time collaboration tools that leverage social media to educate and empower stakeholder communities and make the smart grid a reality today. For more information, visit www.noveda.com.

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With a multitude of paths to career satisfaction, evidence indicates that “finding meaning in the workplace” may be the single most important factor to long term satisfaction in the workplace. In fact, research shows that growing work frustrations are directly related to immediate supervision and a lack of recognition. So how can today’s leaders increase the engagement of their employees? What new skills will define tomorrow’s business sustainability innovators?

Reviewing the Harvard Business Review post, The Must-Have Leadership Skill, we explore the growing emphasis on ‘social intelligence’ as a required business skill. As the article describes:

“Technical skills and self-mastery alone allow you to be an outstanding individual contributor. But to lead, you need an additional interpersonal skill set…leadership is the art of accomplishing goals through other people.”

While creating ‘meaningful work’ is both the responsibility of the employer as well as the employee, business leaders can greatly accelerate the process by recognizing and rewarding the pursuit of these business sustainability efforts. Reflecting back on the 2009 article, Jumping into the green jobs market, the recovering market has created a new generation of workers, with a new set of expectations.

• Employees Want to Make a Difference: 80% of “young professionals” are interested in a career that makes a positive impact on the environment.
• Employees Seek Energy-Conscious Employers: 94% of Americans prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound.
• Employees Prefer Employers that offer Telecommuting: the necessity to physically change locations in order to accomplish a task has recently been challenged by employee value for energy conservation, environment impacts, family values, and other issues.
• Employees Want Employers to Walk the Talk: In Portland, Oregon, your company isn’t really green unless you’ve got a bike cage in the parking structure, a compost bin in the lunchroom, fume-free paint on the walls, and have recycled glass on the lobby front desk.
• Employees Gravitate towards a Common Sustainable Goals: Organizations that are creating business sustainability through an elevated sense of teamwork and establishing an emotional tie between the employee and the organization direction are attracting top talent.

Having the right people in place has always critical to business success; however, it has become increasingly important to have a new set of skills to respond to evolving market conditions and business sustainability needs. The ability to plan and take action to address resource demands falls heavily on both executive and frontline leadership. Our sustainability consulting works with businesses to understand the value in having an evolved ‘social intelligence’ at every level of an organization.

Article by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company; appearing courtesy 3BL Media.

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Alternative energy is not only good for the environment; it’s good for job creation, too. According to the Solar Foundation, 100,237 Americans are now working in the US solar industry. The statement is based on preliminary data from National Solar Jobs Census 2011: A Review of the U.S. Solar Workforce.

Solar businesses added 6,735 new workers in all 50 states since August 2010, which represents a 6.8 percent growth rate. The National Solar Jobs Census 2011 measured solar employment during the period between August 2010 and August 2011.

The figures reveal that the job growth within the US solar industry outpaced the overall economy and fossil fuel based electric generation when compared to overall economic data from Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. (EMSI). During the same 12-month period, jobs in the overall economy grew by only 0.7 per cent, while fossil fuel electric generation lost two percent of its workforce.

“The U.S. solar industry is creating jobs at a far greater pace than the economy as a whole,” said Andrea Luecke, executive director of The Solar Foundation. “The National Solar Jobs Census series provides a definitive measure of the U.S. solar workforce and its growth over time. It proves where smart solar energy policies are having the most impact both in terms of states and across the vast solar supply chain.”

The full National Solar Jobs Census 2011 report became available at Solar Power International ‘11 in Dallas on October 17. The Census examines employment along the solar value chain, including installation, wholesale trade, manufacturing, utilities and all other fields and includes growth rates and job numbers for 31 separate occupations. It also examines solar employment at the state level.

The National Solar Jobs Census 2011 was conducted by The Solar Foundation and Green LMI (a division of BW Research Partnership) with technical assistance from Cornell University.

“By using high-quality research methodology, we can ensure that these numbers are as accurate as possible,” said John Bunge, Associate Professor in the Department of Statistical Science at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations. “Using both primary and secondary data sources, along with careful statistical analysis, gives us high confidence in the results.”

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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This morning, Chairman Cliff Stearns, who leads the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, told NPR that “We can’t compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines.”

This comment reflects exactly the sort of counterproductive defeatism that Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned against this weekend when he spoke to a group of America’s most promising young solar innovators:

“The United States faces a choice today: Will we sit on the sidelines and fall behind or will we play to win the clean energy race? Some say this is a race America can’t win.  They’re ready to wave the white flag and declare defeat… Others say this is a race America shouldn’t even be in. They say we can’t afford to invest in clean energy.  I say we can’t afford not to.

“It’s not enough for our country to invent clean energy technologies – we have to make them and use them too. Invented in America, made in America, and sold around the world – that’s how we’ll create good jobs and lead in the 21st century.”

The race for clean energy jobs and industries is on – and it is a race well worth winning. The International Energy Agency projects that in the coming decades, solar power could grow to more than 20 percent of the world’s electricity. Conservatively, this means that there is an economic opportunity worth trillions of dollars for whichever countries claim the lead. The global market for wind turbines is also growing exponentially.

But it’s not just the vast potential of jobs tomorrow – these industries employ a growing number of Americans today. In fact, business groups estimate that America’s solar industry accounts for about 100,000 jobs and the wind industry employs 75,000. Should we simply tell those workers that we’ve given up on them?

A study released last month showed that, in spite of the intense global competition, the U.S. remains a net global exporter of solar technology – with $5.6 billion in exports and an overall positive trade balance of $1.8 billion.

It is certainly true that China is playing to win. Last year alone, China offered its solar manufacturers $30 billion in government financing, vastly exceeding the U.S. investment.  And China has overtaken the United States market share in solar power – a technology we invented.

Chairman Stearns and other members of his party in Congress believe that America cannot, or should not, try to compete for jobs in a cutting edge and rapidly growing industry.  We simply disagree:  the answer to this challenge is not to wave the white flag and give up on American workers. America has never declared defeat after a single setback – and we shouldn’t start now.

America’s entrepreneurs and innovators are still the very best in the world. Our workers are second to none – and we have never been afraid of a challenge. It’s time to do what we’ve always done in the face of a tough competitor: roll up our sleeves and recapture the lead.

photo: portobesono

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Sacred Power Corporation (SPC) was established in 2001 as Native American owned and operated small business that provides renewable energy solutions to government, commercial and residential customers. "Using the strengths of the Father to Protect the Gifts of the Mother" is our guiding principle, and it has guided us to success.

SPC has always been at the forefront of renewable energy innovation, beginning with our installation of the first solar carport structure in the State of New Mexico. Nearly eleven years later, that same carport is generating clean energy for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM. With funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the support of the Obama Administration, we have now put large-scale renewable energy installations in New Mexico Schools for the first time. This allowed SPC to hire people at a time when jobs are scarce. With hundreds of installations across the U.S, SPC now employs 59 people from all disciplines, including engineers, electricians, installers, and office and administrative staff. We're also working with teachers to help them educate and inspire students about the great potential of green technology and green jobs in our communities. And we're working with Tribal Nations on the construction of energy efficient and solar powered Housing and Urban Development homes for lower-income Americans, who spend much of their earnings on their energy bills.

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How refreshing to hear a NZ political party talking about green jobs. The Conservatives in the UK have got a massive policy on green jobs, renewable energy and lowering carbon emissions, Obama has announced billions in this field, Angela Merkel in Germany has made dramatic moves in this are, the Chinese have a 5 Year plan that has bright green written all over it , and even in Australia where the politics of carbon are positively dangerous their carbon tax proposal has 10 billion dollar to lure green business there. Probably from New Zealand! And yesterday the Carbon War Room announced their own private ventures to so this.

And yet the issue of green jobs has seldom been debated here. The large renewables sector that we have has not been sold to the world even though Meridian has shown just how possible that is beyond our borders. And the fact that electric vehicles fit our profile and tens of thousands of them could come into the country and use cheap renewable energy at night with the existing electricity network has escaped any attention at a time when the alternatives to fossil fuel become more attractive. Wind and electric cars for example work very well together.

But apart from the insulation program (which is great) there has been nothing to help the green energy sector. In fact the one useful tool, the Research and Development tax credit has been abolished by the National Government.

In the rush to open up hazardous offshore drilling, and get some more of those mining companies who have so compromised the decisions of the Australian people into the country to dig up a bit more of high grade conservation land, and to develop the incredibly dirty lignite, the opportunities that have New Zealand’s name on them have been completely overlooked.

So how refreshing it was to hear the Greens announce such a program today. Nice to hear the Greens focus on business actually because its a linkage that’s been missing until recently.

So in celebration of the fact that they did so, we print their summary below:

“We need a pragmatic economic strategy to help New Zealand succeed in a competitive global economy — a global economy that is turning increasingly green.

The OECD has recognized that New Zealand’s long term competitive advantage lies in safeguarding our natural resources through mutually supportive economic and environmental policies. They recognize that our economy is our environment and that our 100% Pure brand is invaluable in a world worried about carbon emissions, water shortages, and contaminated food.

The current Government’s economic approach has been to risk our brand for the sake of a quick buck. The majority of our lowland rivers are now polluted due to the unregulated expansion of our dairy industry. Three lignite plants are under consideration and will escalate our contribution towards climate change. The Government is spending $20 billion on new state highways while our trains remain an international embarrassment. And plans for deep-sea oil drilling are being fast-tracked despite what just happened with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

What we’re going to do about it
The Green Party has a plan to create 100,000 new green jobs — a plan that will add resilience to our economy and protect our natural environment, without going further into debt.
We’ll create 100,000 new jobs through direct government investment, changing the way our state-owned energy companies work, and shifting the drivers for green jobs in the private sector.

How we’re going to do it
Our plan is detailed and fully-costed. It includes plans for direct government investment, building sustainable infrastructure, supporting the greening of our small and medium enterprises (SMEs), driving innovation, introducing smarter regulation, getting the prices of resources and pollution right, protecting our brand, reforming capital markets, making our workplaces fairer, and measuring progress differently.

Here are three of the highlights:

→ Direct investment
We will ramp-up the Heat Smart home insulation program ensuring it is rolled out to a further 200,000 homes over the next three years, costing $350 million and employing 4,000 people directly — 10,400 if you include indirect and upstream employment effects.

→ Keep it Kiwi
We will retain ownership of our state-owned enterprises while creating the right incentives for them to partner with clean tech entrepreneurs in the private sector and develop renewable energy solutions that we can patent and export abroad. With the right incentives in place, if we can capture just 1% of the global market for renewable energy solutions, we’ll create a $6 to $8 billion export industry employing 47,000–65,000 people in new green jobs.

→ Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Through a mix of government procurement policies, tax incentives, start-up funding, and a $1 billion boost to R&D funding, we’ll support SMEs to step up and drive new job creation in the cleantech sector.

To view the full plan, visit greens.org.nz/greenjobs.

Article by Vicki B., appearing courtesy Celsias.

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Our friends at the Solar Foundation released a sneak peek at the results of their 2011 National Solar Jobs Census. It comes as no surprise to any of us working in solar that this fast growing industry continues to brighten the American economy . . .

The census data shows that 100,237 Americans are now working in the U.S. solar industry. That’s more than U.S. coal mining. That’s more than U.S. steel and iron production. That’s way more than U.S. crude oil and natural gas pipeline transportation. That’s real.

The 6,735 new solar jobs added between August 2010 and August 2011 amount to 6.8% annual growth – leaps and bounds better than jobs in the overall economy (up 0.7%) as well as fossil fuel electric generation (down 2%).

As with last week’s news of record solar cost reductions, this American solar jobs success did not happen by accident. It’s the direct result of federal and state policies that have built new solar power markets in communities nationwide. Mind you, actual federal investment in solar has lagged far behind spending on conventional energy resources. A recent report from DBL Investors indicated that federal subsidies going to the oil & gas industry have averaged $4.86 billion annually for 100 years. Meanwhile annual support for all renewables including solar has received less than 1/10th of that – $370 million – for just the past 15 years. Yet as data point after data point shows, solar has successfully delivered high returns on its relatively small share of government investment.

Amid the increasingly politicized fallout from last month’s Solyndra closure, it’s important to remember that our nation’s solar power industry is strong and getting stronger by the day. In fact, it’s the fastest growing industry in the U.S. It’s also worth remembering that critical policy support for solar has come from both sides of the aisle and all corners of the country. As well it should for this homegrown, job creating, safe, reliable and plentiful energy resource. Now’s no time to be backing down our commitment to this rare bright spot in our nation’s economy.

The Solar Foundation conducted the Solar Jobs Census with Green LMI (a division of BW Research Partnership) and technical assistance from Cornell University. They’ll be releasing the full report with state-specific data, workforce needs, and policy guidelines at Solar Power International in October. All the more reason we hope to see you there in Dallas!

Vote Solar is a non-profit grassroots organization working to fight climate change and foster economic opportunity by bringing solar energy into the mainstream.

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