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The Center for American Progress just issued a new article on “green job” growth (a term that includes "everyone from energy-efficiency consultants to wastewater plant operators" according to the NYT) – and the news for green job seekers is good. A Pew Research Study found that the number of green jobs rose at a rate of 9.1% between 1998 and 2007 (dare we speculate about these two most recent years?) compared to a 3.7% growth rate overall. Five municipalities lead the green charge. (Good thing, too, as these same five municipalities faced some of the most severe unemployment rates in the country in 2009.) 
· Predictably, San Francisco tops the list. The city leads America’s clean tech charge with heavy capital investment and an accompanying proliferation of green careers. · Bean Town, already home to a green monster, is now home to a bustling green technology industry, outstripped only by the green Giants on yonder shore. A LEED construction mandate for new buildings paired with the city’s reliance on wind power have also contributed to the green sector growth. · Motor City faces 15.3% unemployment in the wake of the auto industry meltdown. But an influx of hybrid and electric vehicle manufacturers will help the skilled workers of Detroit – anything but green in the experience sense – parlay their know-how in a greener version of the industry that once drove the city’s growth. · The Rose City has taken on a decidedly different hue. The granola brigade of Portland, OR (Eugenians are allowed to say that – with all due affection of course), has decided to hoist the city from the doldrums with an initiative called “Grey to Green,” which aims to turn 43 acres of city roofs into ecoroofs, plant 33,000 yard trees and 50,000 street trees, among other efforts. The green-collar army required to execute this initiative will be added to the 20,000 employs of the already-robust clean energy sector. · The Big Apple has morphed from traditional red delicious to green granny smith. And none of those employed in one of the 127 green initiatives launched as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s 2007 PlaNYC 2030 is complaining. A billion dollars for building retrofits will supplement a spate of strong private sector programs, like Sustainable South Bronx, that are already active in the green space.
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