Energy Conversion Demands Green Collar Jobs (Sen. Bernie Sanders)

The energy bill that the Senate is debating this week includes an amendment that Senator Clinton (D-N.Y.) and I offered to train workers in new technologies associated with energy efficiency and renewable energy.

One way to slow global warming is to use energy in a smarter way. An effective and economical way to cut consumption is to make homes and businesses more energy efficient. Trouble is, today you would have a hard time finding workers qualified to do the job.

In Vermont, if a family wants to weatherize their home, it can take up to two years to make it happen because there are not enough workers out there. The same thing goes for installation of solar panels or wind turbines. The widespread adoption of these technologies is being stopped in its tracks because we simply don’t have enough people to do the jobs.

A study last year by the National Renewable Energy Lab identified the shortage of training as “a leading non-technical barrier to renewable energy and energy efficiency growth.