Green jobs, not green tasks

SUBSTANTIAL, long-term investments in America's future are rolling out of the other Washington to fund research and training that covers everything from clean-energy technology to green jobs in the health-care industry.

The funds are directly connected to doing old things in new ways and looking ahead, not only to a cleaner environment but also to workplace skills with a future.

Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell announced the state would receive $13.4 million in Department of Labor funding for green-job training. A combination of grants are expected to train nearly 8,000 Washington residents.

The opportunity created is good news by itself, but the best news is the training curricula will lead to 22 nationally recognized skill certificates.

Another pot of federal money will infuse $16.8 million into research on new biofuels. The funds will support cutting-edge work at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington State University, the University of Washington and biofuels companies located in the state.

These are the technologies and skills that will propel the national economy, part of global competition for the jobs and skills of the 21st century.

Not since the wake-up call delivered by a beeping Soviet satellite named Sputnik has this nation understood it is functioning with dated skills and priorities. We are in a direct competition with other countries to produce employment at home and exportable consumer goods.

In unvarnished terms, America abandoned manufacturing to cheaper labor markets abroad and tried to make up the difference by trading bits of colored paper and doing each other's laundry.

The shock of Sputnik inspired a wave of innovation and education in science and engineering. Concentric circles of creativity and job creation sped out like a tsunami across the economy.

The nation is suffering through the painful results of a gambling environment on Wall Street, building housing for speculation and not shelter, and ignoring our industrial base. Green jobs and green skills look ahead.