American Jobs Plan Promises Green Jobs, But Scope Is Uncertain
Analysts predict most jobs will be in manufacturing, construction, and transportation
In March 2021, the Biden administration released details on its American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion bill focused on climate change and infrastructure. Among many focuses, the American Jobs Plan would modernize the country’s roads and highways, invest more significantly in research and development, and create more employment opportunities with higher wages and better labor protections. But, aside from the historic price tag, the plan generated headlines because of one specific commitment – the creation of millions of green jobs.
Some have even taken to calling the bill the Green Jobs Plan, because of its unprecedented focus on the environment. This likely sounds like great news to current students, interns, and recent grads poised to enter the green STEM job market. However, is the American Jobs Plan cause for hope? For those interested in green careers, will this as-yet-unpassed bill affect your prospects?
The outcome remains unseen.
Understanding the American Jobs Plan’s “green” jobs
On the campaign trail, one of President Biden’s key promises was to double down on clean energy, an initiative with the potential to create 10 million jobs in the sector. His early proposals included a focus on nuclear energy production, faster development of carbon capture sequestration technology, and innovative solutions to improve energy storage and use.
The American Jobs Plan takes more of a macro view, training its sights on infrastructure repairs, environmental justice, and foundational support for further advancements down the line. There are detailed strategies to increase the share of electric vehicles in the U.S., make clean electricity more widespread, improve homes’ and businesses’ resilience in the face of climate disasters, and protect land and water resources more aggressively. There’s also a chunk of the plan dedicated to reimagining the energy industry, by weaning the country off oil and gas and revitalizing the existing power grid.
Experts say, if passed, the American Jobs Plan could realistically deliver millions of jobs over time. One analyst, Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, predicted the plan could create up to 1.2 million positions every year. However, the bulk of these jobs would target non-college-educated workers.
As a green STEM intern or job candidate, the term “green job” has a different connotation. It denotes highly skilled work in fields like environment protection, regulatory administration, forestry, agriculture, and environmental design, among others. But the green jobs in the American Jobs Plan would largely be in construction, transportation, and manufacturing.
There’s plenty of labor needed to start and maintain these clean infrastructure projects, but it remains unclear if the employment opportunities will expand to more specialized roles.
There is hope, however. With the plan, $16 billion is earmarked for restoration and reclamation of abandoned mines, and $10 billion would go to the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps focused on conservation and environmental justice. These initiatives may not be explicitly linked to green job creation, but in dedicating funding to environmental causes, the American Jobs Plan is reinforcing the importance of this work and providing financial backing that could eventually be used to employ more green STEM grads.
Overall, the American Jobs Plan has promise, in that it places an outsized focus on climate and draws a direct line from climate to the economy. There’s the possibility that it could fuel a green job boom in the years to come, but there’s no guarantee.
For interns and recent graduates, there are several organizations that need your skillsets today. The American Jobs Plan has the potential to boost the sector at some point, but regardless of its passage or possible changes, there are still plenty of ways to jumpstart your career without it.
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1 The White House. (March 31, 2021). FACT SHEET: The American Jobs Plan. Retrieved from: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/
2 Biden-Harris. (2020). CLIMATE: 10 MILLION CLEAN ENERGY JOBS. Retrieved from: https://joebiden.com/climate-labor-fact-sheet/
3 Clifford, Catherine. (April 12, 2021). ‘Green’ jobs in Biden’s infrastructure bill: What they could pay and how to be eligible. Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/12/experts-on-green-jobs-in-bidens-climate-infrastructure-bill.html
4 Higgins, Trevor, Gout, Elise, and Hardin, Sally. (April 16, 2021). How the American Jobs Plan Delivers Climate Action. Retrieved from: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2021/04/26/498768/american-jobs-plan-delivers-climate-action/