Stimulus Bucks for Green Job Training

Lindsay Beyerstein

A wind turbine at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) outside of Boulder, Colo. The NREL is the chief research and development center in the U.S. for renewable energy.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis yesterday announced $5.8 million in green capacity building grants through the economic stimulus program — just a fraction of the $500 million set aside for green jobs creation under the stimulus.

The green capacity building grants will fund training opportunities to help individuals acquire jobs in expanding green industries,” according to a Department of Labor statement. Training programs will target American Indians, women, at-risk youth and farm workers.

The money will go to expand 62 programs that are already receiving DOL training grants. Recipients include Women in Non Traditional Employment Roles (WINTER) a nonprofit economic development agency in Los Angeles serving women and youth; the Southern Appalachian Labor School of Montgomery, West Va.; and the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council of Browning, Mont.

Solis also announced $48.8 million in stimulus grants to state workforce agencies to develop green job banks. These job banks are supposed to help workers hook up with green jobs after they complete their training.

The labor department expects to receive funding for three more green jobs initiatives over the next several months.

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Lindsay Beyerstein is an award-winning investigative journalist and In These Times staff writer who writes the blog Duly Noted. Her stories have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, Slate, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and other publications. Her photographs have been published in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times’ City Room. She also blogs at The Hillman Blog (http://​www​.hill​man​foun​da​tion​.org/​h​i​l​l​m​a​nblog), a publication of the Sidney Hillman Foundation, a non-profit that honors journalism in the public interest.
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