A Green New Deal has the potential to address the nation’s lack of infrastructure spending, but this type of initiative can also benefit the construction industry and its workers, says a new Brookings Institution study. Overall, clean energy jobs are good-paying jobs and with a big move towards sustainable infrastructure and renewable power, there’s great opportunity to promote more equitable pay.
Mean hourly wages for such work exceed the national average by 8 to 19 percent, and workers at the lower-ends of the income spectrum also tend to earn more, up to $5 to $10 an hour, suggesting these industries are more equitable when it comes to fair pay.
That’s because many of the professions needed for such a transition, including sizable occupations like electricians, carpenters, and plumbers, tend to require lower educational requirements, and focus more on on-the-job training and apprenticeships. Approximately half of such workers, who have no more than a high school diploma, out-earn peers with similar educational achievements.
Workforce diversity, however, remains a challenge. Authors Mark Muro, Adie Tomer, Ranjitha Shivaram, and Joseph Kane, who all work for the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, also found that, currently, the clean jobs industry lacks diversity: of those they categorize in the clean energy workforce, only 20 percent are female, and 10 percent are black.
These two observations, they suggest, point to the potential of a Green New Deal, or similar programs, to improve opportunity: properly structured, and focused on both upskilling workers without advanced degrees and providing opportunities to underserved demographics, this type of program could be a pathway to a more equitable economy.
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