By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012
     Carpenters, electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers and laborers all need to take notice of green jobs, if they haven’t already.
     The Ikea store in Bolingbrook has 4,784 solar panels on its roof, producing enough power annually to power 112 homes. Earlier this month, the Chicago Department of Transportation unveiled “the greenest street in America,” two miles running along Blue Island Avenue and Cermak Road. The road is paved with smog eating cement which filters storm water, and lies adjacent to the city’s first permanent wind and solar powered pedestrian lights.
     Doug Widener, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council, Illinois chapter, said Illinois is a stronghold for green building jobs.
     According to Widener, Illinois ranks second per capita in the number of LEED certified buildings in the United States. Chicago is the number one city in the world for green buildings, containing more than 40 city buildings that are LEED certified, with retrofitting old buildings also a hot spot for construction companies looking to build business.
     Clearly, going green is good for business in a market that has been tough for consumers and contractors.
     The Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan policy research group, has reported that green job growth has increased more than job growth in any other sector under Obama’s presidency.
     A Mitt Romney presidency may threaten this growth and set the country’s years of progress back. He has put the production tax credit into jeopardy, a federal subsidy that has had decades of bipartisan support that gives the wind power industry a 30 percent tax credit.
     This summer, Romney said he aims to let the tax credit expire.
     “The President may believe that his economic plan ‘worked’ and that America wants to repeat the experience for another four years, but the facts don’t back that up. Mitt Romney believes it is a time for a new approach to ensure our nation’s energy independence,” Romney’s campaign said in a statement in July. “He will allow the wind credit to expire, end the stimulus boondoggles, and create a level playing field on which all sources of energy can compete on their merits. Wind energy will thrive wherever it is economically competitive, and wherever private sector competitors with far more experience than the President believe the investment will produce results.”
     Romney’s energy plan requires three big things: open up more federal lands and waters to oil and gas drilling, give states more power to approve permits, and focus on building pipelines such as the Keystone XL. It’s an old fashioned policy that is not sustainable for jobs or the environment.
     “You have to give the president credit. We need a mixed economy. We can’t just rely on old fashioned, oil based technology. Broadening our horizons will make us as competitive as possible,” said State Sen. Michael Noland (D-22nd). “Technology is constantly changing. We have new technology coming online that is going to make our lives more efficient and green jobs will be in demand.”
     Mark Guethle, Painters District Council 30 (PDC 30) director of governmental affairs, said he saw three reasons Republicans block the passage of green jobs.
     “The Republicans have three things against green building it seems: it lowers the energy cost, they create good jobs, and the results are good for the environment,” he said. “I think for the sake of jobs in the area and in the country, it’s important to continue on the path that President Obama has laid out for us.”

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.