Green Collar Jobs Act

Policy Guide

The Green Collar Jobs Act of 2007 is Title X of the Energy Independence and Security Act. This act authorizes grants to establish national and state training programs that assist in creating jobs in green industries, such as energy efficient building and rehabilitation, energy efficient vehicles, biofuels, and renewable electric power. This program first received funding with an allocation of $500 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (i.e., the stimulus bill).

The main goals of this legislation include identifying multi-stakeholder partnerships that can demonstrate an ability to effectively retrain target populations; helping achieve economic self-sufficiency and the country's policy goals associated with energy efficiency; promoting renewable energy; and reducing greenhouse gases. Additionally, priority for grants will be given to training programs that can effectively leverage additional public and private resources.

The $500 million provided in the stimulus bill were allocated as follows:

  • $150 million in Pathways Out of Poverty Grants to support training partnerships that serve low-income persons, defined as those with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line. An eligible partnership must include a combination of community-based organizations, educational institutions, industry, and labor.
  • $100 million in National Energy Training Partnership Grants for programs serving workers affected by national energy and environmental policy, including workers who need training to update or transition their skills and the unemployed. This money is directly awarded to multi-stakeholder workforce training partnerships, allocated with an emphasis on geographic diversity.
  • $190 million in State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grants for state workforce investment boards, which work to devise strategies that align a workforce vision with state energy policy and green job training on local and regional levels. A portion of this money also will be reserved for communities affected by the auto industry meltdown. This money is awarded to states, which then re-grant it to multi-stakeholder workforce training partnerships.
  • $50 million in competitive grants to support state employment agencies to compile labor market data on energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.
  • $5 million to support Green Capacity Building Grants for entry-level or gateway positions.

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