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State's Green Jobs Climb to Near 100,000 by C.R. Roberts The News Tribune, March 19, 2010

New Report: Private industries say total grows by 32 percent in 2009

It's the week of St. Patrick's Day, and green is still important. The governor says green jobs are up, and Tacoma looks to be taking a serious green interest in economic development.

Gov. Chris Gregoire unveiled results Thursday of a new report by the state's Employment Security Department that shows Washington increased the number of private-sector green jobs by nearly one-third over the last year. Meanwhile, the University of Washington Tacoma is sponsoring a discussion of a green future hereabouts.

"Leave it to the Evergreen State to grow green jobs in a tough economy," Gregoire said in a news release issued by the Employment Security Department.

In 2009, for a second consecutive year, ESD conducted a statewide survey to count the number of green jobs in Washington, according to the release. The 2009 survey found 99,319 green jobs, totaling 3.3 percent of all jobs in Washington.

Among the private industries that were surveyed in both 2008 and 2009, green jobs grew by 32 percent, to about 62,000 jobs.

Forty-six percent of the green jobs were involved in preventing and reducing pollution; 38.9 percent were involved in increasing energy efficiency; 11.6 percent of green jobs had responsibilities for mitigating or cleaning up pollution, and 3.5 percent were involved in producing renewable energy, said the release.

A panel of six luminaries - including those from academics, city government, private industry and the sustainability community, as well as The News Tribune's own Peter Callaghan - will soon discuss the relationship of the city's economic development to a green future.

The forum, free and open to the public, will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 2, at William W. Philip Hall at UWT.

Registration is required. Call 253-692-4450 for more information.