Creating [green] jobs

A few weeks ago, I asked my colleagues on LinkedIn the question: What is the best way to create [green] jobs?

I got 20 very interesting and insightful responses. Not statistically significant, I’m the first to admit, but still intriguing. Although there was some overlap, the arguments essentially boiled down to the following:

Nine people felt some sort of government involvement was necessary to get the ball rolling, either in the form of government incentives and tax breaks (2), government investment in infrastructure/"green" industries with “green” funds or bonds (4), or government mandates such as Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable Portfolio Standards (3).

Three felt a hybrid approach—government incentives, government investments and/or mandates—combined with a strong commitment from the private sector was the best approach.

Five suggested market solutions and a strong business commitment to create jobs. And one felt that businesses should focus on “greening” existing jobs.

One person felt that health care/workman’s comp reform would allow small businesses to survive/thrive…and, ostensibly, to go on to create green jobs.

And one said regardless what we did, there were not going to be any “green” jobs for a long time, if ever “…and we have the government and entrenched not-for-profit interests to thank.” (by this person’s own admission, he was having a bad day).

So my question is: What do YOU think is the best way to create [green] jobs?
Or, perhaps more to the point, what ARE you doing to create [green] jobs?

I look forward to hearing your responses.

In the meantime
Stay cool…go green!

Greenhorns

I recently saw a documentary trailer about young farmers who are making a go of it, growing organic produce for people, planet and profit. Besides being a delightful way to start my weekend, it also brought to mind how, in a very real sense, we're all Greenhorns when it comes to sustainable business development. From clean tech to community supported agriculture, we're all looking for new and innovative ways to make money and make a difference.