Business group touts potential for green jobs

Long Island is "poised to take off" when it comes to growth in high-paying jobs in green energy technologies and related fields, a new report from the Long Island Association says.

But don't expect to see those jobs in the near future. In the report, the LIA's chief economist, Pearl Kamer, said, "We set our eyes to the horizon."

She pointed to figures from Global Insight, a Massachusetts-based research and forecasting firm, projecting close to 198,000 green jobs by 2038 for New York City, Northern New Jersey and Long Island, up from an estimated 25,000 jobs in 2006. Those new jobs would include roles in:

Solar power, such as electrical equipment assemblers and welders;

Wind energy, such as environmental engineers and maintenance/repair workers;

Biofuels, such as chemical engineers and technicians.

Nearer term, three to five years, she said to look for opportunities in positions like installers of smart meters in homes and solar equipment on rooftops, as well as jobs with battery manufacturers, as electric cars become a reality.

In the report, "Moving Toward A Greener Long Island Economy: Implications for Job Growth," Kamer gives an overview of clean energy technologies and transportation, as well as a roundup of area initiatives that make Long Island attractive for green sector businesses.

With the research going on at places like Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island Power Authority, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and area universities, Long Island is an attractive site for green businesses to locate and "tap the knowledge base," she said.

Both the green sector and medical care industry will be important in picking up the slack of jobs lost in what she called a "transformational recession" in which spending on other consumer goods is no longer a driver of the economy.