LA: Green Jobs

A crowd of about 100 environmental activists, volunteers and business owners gathered Saturday in Lafayette Square for a rally designed to draw attention to the nascent green-building and alternative-energy industries in the New Orleans area.

The event, titled “Green Jobs Now” and sponsored by the national nonprofit group Green For All, allowed representatives from the nonprofit, governmental and private sectors to compare notes on the state of New Orleans’ green economy.

Jobs that involve lessening the impact of people and structures on the environment include solar panel installers and manufacturers, energy-efficiency building consultants and home-deconstruction contractors.

Helping to expand the local green work force is the goal of the Louisiana Green Corps, which trains young unskilled workers in energy-efficient building practices.

Supported by a U.S. Department of Labor grant, the program will train more than 800 people during four-month courses, administered locally by a number of environmental and community groups, said Reed Dickson with the Conservation Corps of Greater New Orleans.