Growing Green Jobs

During a nationwide conference call marking the second Fighting Poverty With Faith initiative in mid-October, faith leaders called for jobs that not only paid a living wage and offered comprehensive benefits, but also set a recovering economy toward the task of energy conservation and pollution reduction. These new “green jobs” should provide laid-off workers and low-income families the opportunity to shed the title of working poor, said The Rev. Larry Snyder, executive director of Catholic Charities USA. “We can, and must, work to reshape our economy so there is a balance and pay equity for all workers,” Father Snyder said. The push for well-paying, green jobs comes as the country begins to emerge from what some experts are calling the Great Recession. Unemployment stood at 9.8 percent in September, its highest level in 26 years.