In case you missed it in the flurry of announcements and news timed for release around GreenBuild in November, a recent study from Booze Allen and the USGBC finds that green building will support nearly 8 million jobs and generate $554 billion dollars for the US economy over the next four years.

This is of course great news.  That's 4 times as many jobs supported by the industry in the previous 5 years.  And a good indication that more and more construction jobs are becoming green jobs.  As USGBC President Rick Fedrizzi said in the press release: "Our goal is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green – and transforming every job in our industry into a green job.”

The USGBC website has an entire section on green jobs and the green economyincluding more free reports and webcasts.

Another great development at the USGBC is their educational offerings and courses and particularly their Green Educator Resources for teachers and professors working in K-12, post-secondary, and adult education.  And for a one-stop-shot for information and resources on green building on campuses, check out Campus Green Builder.  All of which will be necessary for getting us to that point where all building is green building, where net-positive energy buildings are the norm, and the transformation of the built environment has led us to a prosperous, desirable, and sustainable future.

One of the more immediate changes that is needed for all of this to happen quickly enough, however, is to remove existing subsidies to fossil fuels that are distorting the market and making it more difficult than it should be to build green and design buildings to the performance standards needed.

Today Solve Climate has a great piece explaining how solar could generate 15% of our power by 2020 if these subsidies are dropped, creating 882,000 jobs in the process.  From 2002 to 2008, fossil fuels received $72 billion in direct federal subsidies in the US, while the solar industry received less than $1 billion.  So not only are we not accounting for the true costs of emitting carbon into the atmosphere, we're actually reducing the existing price!  (and this is not taking into account indirect subsidies like the costs of military action to protect supplies, etc.)

Another compelling stat from the article: "Currently, solar contributes less than 1 percent of energy used in the U.S. and employs some 60,000 people. Increasing that amount to 15 percent would result in a total of 882,000 new jobs, the association said.  That's compared with a dwindling coal mining industry that employs 85,000 people..."

In the fall, the G-20 meeting agreed to end these subsidies in the medium term - if you feel so compelled, send President Obama a message urging him to follow-through on that pledge as quickly as possible and put that money to better use.

It is increasingly clear that the best and only way out of this economic crisis is to transform our economy that is clean, green, cyclical, and fair.  The green building and renewable energy industries have a tremendous role to play in making sure that happens.

So be sure to include some green renovations on your list of new year's resolutions.  My wife and I will be adding insulation, installing an EPA-certified woodstove, and a tankless hot water heater - all relatively modest investments that will save us lots of money in the near future, and generate a bit more work for some local contractors.