Green jobs benefits Latinos, report says

A report by the National Council of La Raza, a national Latino advocacy organization, advises Latinos to look to the tremendous growth of clean, green energy generators such as wind and solar for “green collar jobs.” 

The green industries are spreading across the United States and being driven “by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, and enhance energy and resource efficiency,” the report says.

The NCLR report focused on the connection between this emerging market and Latinos, the country’s fastest growing segment of U.S. workers. Statistics show that Latinos will make up 18 percent of the country’s workforce by 2018, and 33 percent by 2050. NCLR advises, “It is in the interest of the country to align the fastest growing workforce with the fastest growing industries.”  

Green jobs tend to pay 13 percent more than other industries and don’t require higher education degrees. Another study done last year by NCLR and the Sierra Club shows 87 percent of Latinos would prefer to work in a clean energy environment.