In pursuit of 'green' jobs

Utah should be doing more to attract "green-collar" jobs, many of which are now going to Colorado and other states vying for industries that provide wind, solar and geothermal power, panelists at an energy forum said Tuesday.

The forum was sponsored by the nonprofit Utah Clean Energy and the Utah Department of Workforce Services. The panelists laid out ideas for Utah to attract the industries creating those jobs in a "new energy economy."

Colorado lawmakers have passed legislation to ease development barriers toward green energy, and local governments there have provided economic incentives to attract related industries — to the tune of 90,000 jobs.

"Colorado has become a magnet for attracting these types of jobs," said Brad Collins, executive director of the 54-year-old nonprofit American Solar Energy Society.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s Renewable Energy Zone Task Force has shown that solar, geothermal and wind power are viable forms of energy in some parts of Utah, although the cost of transmitting power from alternative sources into the grid remains an issue.

"You have a whole suite of opportunities," said Collins, who is also publisher of Solar Today magazine.

Other panelists focused on how a relevant curriculum at colleges and universities is needed to educate a potential work force in an increasingly competitive, global green-energy market.

Lee Brinton, chairman of the engineering-related technology division at Salt Lake Community College, said the college is developing a program for an associate degree in building-energy management, to train students in sustainability and energy efficiency of facilities. The college aims to begin classes in the program in January 2009.

One driver in the push for renewable energy and energy efficiency nationwide is recommendations coming from groups including the Western Climate Initiative, of which Utah is a member. Those recommendations urge states to enact legislation that will lead to cleaner air and address climate change.

But purveyors of traditional sources of energy, mainly coal in Utah, worry that their pollution-control costs will skyrocket if the regulations are implemented, and some consumers are concerned their bills will rise exponentially.

In Utah, Huntsman has set goals of increasing the state's energy efficiency 20 percent by 2015 and producing 20 percent of its electricity needs from renewable energy resources by 2025.