Growing Jobs in Environmentally Focused Occupations

"If your career plan involves caring for the planet, there’s good news. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth in many occupations related to helping the environment or conserving natural resources.

In fact, two of the occupations that BLS projects to have the fastest employment growth from 2020 to 2030, wind turbine service technicians (68% increase) and solar photovoltaic installers (52% increase), involve “green” work. However, as the data show, the total number of new jobs is projected to be relatively small in these and some other green occupations.

Chart 1 data below

Each of these occupations had a median annual wage that was higher than the $45,760 median for all workers in 2021. The typical education required to enter these occupations varies.

Workers in green occupations focus on the environment in different ways. Wind turbine service technicians and solar photovoltaic installers, for example, build and maintain systems that create energy from sources that don’t become depleted. Other workers help to monitor the environment and investigate sources of pollution. Still others advise organizations or individuals on ways to protect and preserve natural resources.

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Environmentally Focused Jobs 

National Wetland Condition Assessment

"Wetlands are a vital component of our nation’s waters, providing a wide array of benefits that contribute to the overall health and integrity of aquatic ecosystems and people’s well-being. Though we are aware of the important benefits wetlands provide, we know very little about their actual ecological health. The National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) is a statistical survey that begins to address some of the gaps in our understanding of wetland health by providing information on the ecological condition of the nation’s wetlands and stressors most commonly associated with poor condition..."
Wetlands

EPA Announces National Enforcement Initiatives for Coming Years

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced its seven National Enforcement Initiatives for fiscal years 2017-2019, which focus on national pollution challenges where EPA’s enforcement efforts will protect public health. For the next cycle starting on October 1, 2016, EPA will retain four of its current National Enforcement Initiatives, add two new initiatives, and expand one to include a new area of focus. The fiscal year 2017-2019 National Enforcement Initiatives are:

1. Keeping Industrial Pollutants Out of the Nation’s Waters (new initiative)
2. Reducing Risks of Accidental Releases at Industrial and Chemical Facilities (new initiative)
3. Cutting Hazardous Air Pollutants (expanded initiative)
4. Reducing Air Pollution from the Largest Sources
5. Ensuring Energy Extraction Activities Comply with Environmental Laws
6. Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of the Nation’s Waters 
7. Preventing Animal Waste from Contaminating Surface and Ground Water.."

EPA

EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?

"Since Barack Obama was sworn in as President in 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed and promulgated numerous regulations to implement the pollution control statutes enacted by Congress. Critics have reacted strongly. Many, both within Congress and outside of it, have accused the agency of reaching beyond the authority given it by Congress and ignoring or underestimating the costs and economic impacts of proposed and promulgated rules. The House conducted vigorous oversight of the agency in the 112th and 113th Congresses, and approved several bills that would overturn specific regulations or limit the agency’s authority. Particular attention has been paid to the Clean Air Act, but there has also been congressional scrutiny on other environmental statutes and regulations implemented by EPA. With Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, the 114th Congress has accelerated oversight of the Administration’s initiatives and renewed efforts to rein in EPA..."
EPA

FTC Sends Warning Letters about Green Certification Seals

 "The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has sent warning letters to five providers of environmental certification seals and 32 businesses using those seals, alerting them to the agency’s concerns that the seals could be considered deceptive and may not comply with the FTC’s environmental marketing guidelines.

“Environmental seals and certifications matter to people who want to shop green,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But if the seals’ claims are broader than the products’ benefits, they can deceive people. We are holding companies accountable for their green claims.”

 

Green certification

Reducing Wildfire Risk and Protecting Our Drinking Water in a Changing Climate

"Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell this week announced an historic agreement between the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to focus on proactively restoring forest lands around important watersheds and preventing costly, destructive wildfires in these areas..."
Reducing Firefire Risk and Drinking Water

CDC- Environmental Health

If you are looking for current information on environmental health, try the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site section on "Environmental Health".
CDC- Environmental Health

Environmental Tips

Get email tips on the environment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during Earth month.

State of the Environment Photo Project

"We invite you to help us capture images of the state of the environment as you see it. Based on Documerica, a 1970s project of the same idea, we want to see how you see the environment today - where we've come from and where we need to go.

Photos selected from those submitted might also be used in a display by EPA and the National Archives for Earth Day 2012..."

Report to the President - Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy
"The central messages of this report are two. First, the economic and environmental dimensions of soci­etal well­being are both indispensable, as well as tightly intertwined. Second, even as the government is rightly focused on the direct threats to the economic aspects of well­being in the form of recession, unemployment, and the stagnation of the standard of living of the middle class, it must not fail to address the threats to both the environmental and the economic aspects of well­being that derive from the accelerating degradation of the environmental capital—the Nation’s ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain—from which flow “ecosystem services” underpinning much economic activity as well as public health, safety, and environmental quality..."

EPA Launches Website to Increase Transparency of Regulatory Activity
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new website called Reg Stat that will enhance public understanding of its regulatory process and the number, type, and range of regulatory documents developed each year by the agency. This new resource is part of the EPA’s continuing efforts to enhance the accessibility and transparency of its regulatory activities.

Reg Stat provides information on EPA documents published in the Federal Register between 2005 and 2009. It also provides in-depth information on rulemakings likely to be of most interest to stakeholders -- those rules signed by the EPA administrator that substantively amend the Code of Federal Regulations. Users will be able to determine the number of rules signed by the administrator, how long it took to develop each rule, whether a rule underwent Executive Order 12866 regulatory review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the length of OMB review. Both summary graphics and searchable data tables are available..."

Environmental Laws: Summaries of Major Statutes Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 to consolidate numerous
federal pollution control responsibilities that had been divided among several federal agencies.
EPA’s responsibilities grew over time as Congress enacted an increasing number of
environmental statutes and major amendments to these statutes. EPA’s primary responsibilities
include the regulation of air quality, water quality, and chemicals in commerce; the development
of regulatory criteria for the management and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes; and the
cleanup of environmental contamination. EPA also provides financial assistance to states and
local governments to aid them in administering pollution control programs and in complying with
certain federal environmental requirements. Several federal statutes provide the legal authority for
EPA’s programs and activities. The major provisions of each of the following statutes are briefly
summarized in this report, as laid out in existing law as of this writing..."

Earth Day
Information and resources on Earth Day from the federal government's USA.gov site.

U.S. EPA Releases Annual Enforcement Results and Mapping Tool
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released enforcement results for fiscal year 2009, and has developed a new Web-based tool and interactive map that allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities.

In FY2009, EPA concluded enforcement actions requiring polluters to invest more than $5 billion on pollution controls, cleanup, and environmental projects. Civil and criminal defendants committed to install controls and take other measures to reduce pollution by approximately 580 million pounds annually once all required controls are fully implemented.

The new mapping tool allows the public to view the locations of facilities that were the subject of those enforcement actions on interactive maps of the U.S. and territories. The maps show facilities where civil enforcement actions were taken for environmental laws for air, water, and land pollution, and a separate map shows criminal enforcement actions..."

EPA Launches Guidance on Environmental Models
"EPA has released a guidance document on the development, evaluation and application of environmental models used to inform environmental decision making. This new resource also provides greater transparency of EPA’s use of models and guidance on the use of proprietary tools and software.

EPA develops and uses a wide range of computer models to simulate the fate of various pollutants, estimate pollution’s impact on public health and the environment, and evaluate the cost and benefits of alternative policies. EPA has been a global leader in the development and use of environmental computer models for environmental protection and continues to improve model development and use."

Make Every Day Earth Day
A new web site from the U.S. Department of Energy offering tips to save money and protect the environment.