South By North Strategies, Ltd.

A recent study by the Center on Wisconsin Strategies proposed a framework for using a national skills credentialing system to grow a workforce capable of succeeding in a clean energy economy. From the study …

We will never be able to clean up the general mess of the American labor market or the specific confusion in green or greener jobs without a stronger and broader commitment to credentials and a system of common standards that support them. In fact, some general system of skill standards is essential not just as a product, but a prod to, systemic training reform. Done right, everyone benefits.
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In the green context, the development and certification of standardized competencies can nudge energy efficiency and renewable energy industries onto the high road by guaranteeing both quality jobs and quality work. The former is essential to realizing the equity promise of the new energy economy, the latter critical to demonstrating and capturing the benefits of green technologies. One way to get at job quality is to define, and where possible require, a certified workforce, which can command better wages in the labor market. The additional advantage — and critical value-added, really — of a certified labor force is that it offers some guarantee on quality of work. This is more than a question of individual return on investment. Every time a poorly trained worker bungles the installation of, say, solar panels or even attic insulation, the public loses confidence in “green” innovation, eroding the country’s already tenuous political will to invest in low-carbon strategies.