Green Jobs Found On The Rail
One of the most repeated complaints over the last year has been, “Where are all the green jobs?” Times are tough, with high unemployment rates continuing to bring bleak results for the nearly 7 people who are looking for work per job that’s actually available. In conditions like these, Americans remember the promise of the Obama presidential campaign, and the Democratic congressional campaigns of 2008 – vote Democrat, and see green jobs created by investment in an environmentally progressive infrastructure.
So, where are the green jobs? They’re on their way, via high speed rail. 2.5 billion dollars approved for high speed rail development won’t be going to Wall Street executives. It will be going to communities just a few blocks away from Main Street, in cities across the USA.
Some of these jobs are coming to the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts, for example. That’s where a high speed rail line will stretch down from Vermont, running through the cities of Northampton and Greenfield, will soon be built. These jobs come through cooperation between Representative John Olver and the Obama Administration, who negotiated for money to be designated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Construction begins this summer, and is expected to take two years. The project will bring 620 jobs during the construction period, and 155 permanent jobs afterwards. This story is being repeated across the nation. As the private sector continues to cut jobs, the government is stepping forward to fill in the gaps.
The investment in high speed rail will bring additional long term economic opportunity by reducing the cost of transportation even as service is improved. Energy efficiency of transportation will increased for areas served by these lines as well, with trains running fast at a fraction of the energy consumption as air travel.
There is a great deal more that could be done by Congress to create more green jobs. To claim that there has not been any green job creation, however, is plainly contradicted by the facts.
