Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Green Jobs

It looks like the old CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) Program is coming back in the form of alternative energy training and jobs. The Green Jobs Act of 2007 (H.R. 2847) was part of the Energy Security & Independence Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) and amended the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish an energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program. AAEA will work to assure that this program is successful, particularly as it relates to at-risk youth.

The Green Jobs Act (GJA) directs the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to:

(1) establish an energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program that targets certain persons (including individuals in need of updated training related to the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, veterans, unemployed workers, and at-risk youth) and sectors of the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries; and

(2) establish a national research program to collect and analyze labor market data to track workforce trends resulting from energy-related initiatives under this Act.

The GJA directs the Secretary to award:

(1) National Energy Training Partnerships Grants on a competitive basis to nonprofit partnerships to carry out training programs that lead to economic self-sufficiency and develop an energy efficiency and renewable energy industries workforce;

(2) grants to states to administer, in coordination with a one-stop delivery system, labor market and labor exchange programs that include funding to state agencies to identify job openings, administer skill and aptitude testing, and provide counseling and case management services;

(3) energy training partnership program grants to states to administer renewable energy and energy efficiency workforce development programs; and

(4) at least 10 Pathways Out of Poverty Demonstration Program competitive grants to community based nonprofit organizations to carry out training that leads to impoverished families gaining economic self-sufficiency.

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