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Public Sector/Municipal-Based Green Jobs

Public Sector/Municipal-Based Green Jobs. Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Compass VII Conference, October 9, 2010. What are Public Sector Green Jobs?.

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Public Sector/Municipal-Based Green Jobs

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  1. Public Sector/Municipal-Based Green Jobs Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Compass VII Conference, October 9, 2010.

  2. What are Public Sector Green Jobs? • Large-scale jobs initiatives backed by municipalities or state governments (usually approved by a city ordinance, state law, or executive order) that focus on preserving or enhancing the environment • Municipal jobs brought to scale – expanded beyond small-scale employment programs to employ and/or serve hundreds/thousands of people, similar to municipal transportation or public works jobs. • Satisfies “Triple Bottom Line” Principles: Ecology, Economy, Equity

  3. How are public sector green jobs initiatives different? • Can be created and maintained at relatively low costs. • Can be funded through innovative financing measures financing measures. • Coordination is difficult because it requires cross-sector coordination: government, private investors, community, labor, businesses, etc.

  4. Why Public Sector Programs/Policies? • Public Sector/Government has a role to play in job creation • Public Sector/Government can encourage the cooperation of businesses • Public Sector/Government can help leverage financing measures, including federal dollars, for large-scale development projects • Public Sector/Government can help protect benefits, collective bargaining, and fair labor standards

  5. Municipal-Based Weatherization Jobs Programs • It can help reduce pollution and create a low carbon economy • As much as 40% of green house gas emissions come from cities • Supports goals of the U.S. Climate Protection Agreement (signed by 1,000 mayors)

  6. Municipal-Based Weatherization Jobs Programs • It’s diverse: residential, commercial buildings, or institutions of care (schools, senior citizen and child care centers, and churches)

  7. Examples of Public Sector (State and Municipal) Green Jobs Programs Green Jobs/Green Homes NY program: a statewide home retrofitting program L.A. Green Jobs Ordinance (2009): L.A. adopted a Green Jobs Ordinance that retrofitting city buildings in low-income neighborhoods Clean Energy Works Portland (CEWP): A comprehensive Community Workforce Agreement that weatherizing 100,000 homes. Berkeley FIRST and Babylon, New York: Weatherization programs created by assessment districts (neighborhood residents agree to pay for weatherization through property taxes). High Road Agreement in Seattle.

  8. Public Sector (cont.) • A public sector initiative focusing on weatherization can improve the environment and create jobs. • Other green jobs sectors can be brought to scale by municipalities: • Composting and urban gardening • Urban forestry • Watershed management • Brownfield remediation

  9. Snapshot of Clean Energy Works(Portland-Multnomah, Oregon) • Weatherize 100,000 homes between 2010-2030 • Begins with a pilot phase of 470 homes in 2010. • Expected to employ 10,000 people directly and provide other indirect jobs. • The Portland initiative is groundbreaking because it is backed by a Community Workforce Agreement (CWA) approved by the Portland City Council in 2009.

  10. Community Workforce Agreement Objectives • A legally binding agreement usually approved through a municipal ordinance or executive (mayoral) order/decision. • Clearly Articulates Hiring and Contracting Goals • Includes Collective Bargaining Language and Fair Labor Standards • Includes Guidelines for Monitoring the CWA • Language About Racial and Gender Equity

  11. Portland Community Workforce Agreement • 80% workers are local hires • Pay is at least 180% above minimum wage (this amounts to a prevailing wage) • 30% of project hours go to workers from high poverty communities, racial minorities, etc. • 20% of the contracts go to underrepresented communities

  12. Portland Community Workforce Agreement(Best Value Contracting) • Collective bargaining/ working with labor unions • Health insurance, benefits, pensions, etc. • History working with racial minorities • History of gender equity (no sexual harassment) • Willing to participate in a small business mentoring program

  13. Financing the CEWP (Portland) 1. City of Portland provided seed funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) 2. The seed funding was dropped into a “revolving loan fund” managed by a prominent bank 3. The revolving loan provides the initial costs to homeowners/renters to weatherize their homes (no up front costs), and allows private investors to contribute 4. These homeowners repay the loan/weatherization costs through their utility bills (“on-bill” repayments)

  14. Managing/Coordinating CEWP 5. Repayment plans are adjusted for income of homeowners and type of weatherization 6. Energy Trust of Oregon coordinates the CEWP Program (nonprofit established by the state in 1999) 7. The bank manages the Revolving Loan Fund and facilitates payments to utility companies 8. Stakeholder Evaluation and Implementation Committee (SEIC) works with the City and the state Energy Trust to evaluate CEWP

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