While the Trump administration is trying to reset or end the federal investments in clean energy technologies, the Community College Managers may be wondering what effects these changes will have on the future of sustainability initiatives and training programs for green jobs.
A report from 2022 by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted strong employment growth in professions in connection with renewable energy sources and the preservation of natural resources in the next few years. For example, the number of technician jobs for maintaining wind turbines will increase by 68%from 2020 to 2030, which led to 4,700 new positions in this area. The number of solarphotovoltaic installers was expected to increase by 52% during this period, which results in 6,100 additional jobs.
However, these forecasts were made before Donald Trump took up his office again this year.
This article comes from the new edition of the Community College Journal, the two -month magazine of the American Association of Community Colleges.
With the help of measures such as the law on inflation reduction and the law on infrastructure investments and jobs, the bidges administration claimed to monitor the creation of more than 400,000 jobs in four years – and in 2023 this sector reported twice as high as the overall economy.
In contrast, Trump has used Executive Orders to terminate grants for environmentally friendly energy projects that are already acquired by the congress, and the Budget reconciliation law mentioned in July (known as “a big beautiful law”) eliminates Green Energy tax credits and other incentives. The federal investments in environmentally friendly technologies limit these movements.
Despite these changes, managers at universities with Green Jobs training programs believe that there will still be a strong demand for these initiatives.
Sources for renewable energy and energy reduction programs save money to consumers, and state and local incentives to invest in these technologies, remain in many communities. In addition, the border between traditional and green job training disappears, since even traditional energy systems become more highly efficient.
Cost savings remain
According to the World Green Building Council, buildings make up almost 40% of global carbon emissions, and Building Automation Systems (BAS) should reduce these quantities by being able to run more efficiently.
However, these systems not only save greenhouse gas emissions. You can also save the users a significant amount of money for their electricity invoices. Johnson controls estimates that Smart Building Controls can save up to 15% of energy consumption in commercial facilities.
“Whether it is federal incentives or not, people still have to keep the costs low,” says Salvador Pina, Vice President for the workforce and economic development at the Roxbury Community College in Massachusetts. “That is why there will always be interest in green technologies.”
The College Center for Smart Building Technology trains the next generation of technicians to build, install, manage and repair bass components.
Bas -Technicians need a solid understanding of HLK and electric systems as well as knowledge of computer programming. According to Pina, they usually start at 75,000 US dollars a year with the chance to earn up to $ 150,000 within five years.
According to the Association of Controls Professionals (ACP), there were 21,800 job offers in the Bas-Feld in mid-May. Roxbury has teamed up with APC to create a 450-hour BAS certificate program that is now a piloting, and the first seven students are to complete the program in August.
“Companies are already tuning to hire them,” says Pina.
The program combines theoretical knowledge with practical, practical skills. The students work on intelligent building systems in a laboratory that was built with the help of APC. The company partners include Johnson Controls, Siemens, automated logic, National Grid and Eversource.
Roxbury requests a permit to find out an Associate study program from its BAS certification program by also adding general educational requirements. If it were admitted, it would be the first such study program in the northeast, says Pina.
The automation of building is only one of the focus areas for the Center for Intelligent Building Technology. In addition, she trains students how to read blueprints and energy inspectors, and the students can acquire industry -related certifications for the establishment of science principles from the building institute of the building (BPI) and in the basics of energy -efficient construction processes. A new program that starts this autumn will teach the students how to operate drones that can analyze where a building experiences a heat loss.
All of these programs will help the students find jobs that support Boston's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ordinance for reducing and disclosing the city's emissions requires the examination and reports on the annual energy and water consumption of your structures as well as compliance with the emission standards, which over time lose weight and all large buildings in the city are expected to decrease by 2050.
“We worked out a niche to become an expert in intelligent and energy -efficient buildings,” notes Pina.
Local incentives still in the game
Although federal tax loans and other incentives can disappear, many states and municipalities will continue to offer their own combination of carrots and sticks to promote the use of green technologies and practices, as Boston's example shows.
Another example is Illinois. Under the leadership of governor JB Pritzker, the state legislature passed the reinterpretation of energy and vehicles in Illinois Act (Rev. Illinois) in 2022 to strengthen the production in the sector for clean jobs.
The program offers incentives for companies that produce electric vehicles or aircraft, associated batteries or charging stations and other renewable energy systems in order to shift or expand their facilities in Illinois. Rev. Illinois is a key component for the efforts of the state to bring a million new EVs to the streets by 2030 and reach 100% clean energy by 2050.
In 2017, the American EV manufacturer Rivian bought a production plant in normal, Illinois, which used to belong to Mitsubishi Motors. With the financing and incentives of Rev. Illinois, Rivian expanded the facility and only announced plans for the construction of a supplier park in the amount of $ 120 million this year, which will create almost 100 additional jobs.
The Heartland Community College, whose main campus is only a few kilometers from the Rivian facility, will help fill these jobs with its EV technology programs. These programs include an Associate of Applied Science degree in electric vehicle technology as well as certifications in relation to EV maintenance and light repair, EV energy storage and service consultant. More than 50 students register for these programs every year, says President Keith Cornille.
Before the arrival of Rivian, Heartland had set up a certification program for renewable energies and viewed the EV technology as the next step.
“Rivian, who came to the community, accelerated this process,” says Cornille. “You helped us understand the employment needs in relation to EV technology.”
A former mechanic, Cornille, can appreciate how the increase in hybrid and electric vehicles changes the type of skills that mechanics need in the field.
“Car dealerships with hybrid vehicles need technicians who are trained in working, especially on these vehicles,” he says. “We also train people to install EV charging stations, and we see growth of the number of these stations in our community.”
Heartland's students and the 38 other Community Colleges benefit from the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN), a partnership between two -year institutions in Illinois in order to promote the growth of a clean energy industry. Through this collaboration, the participating universities for curricula and training materials for faculties and students develop and share green jobs.
In view of the threat of higher tariffs for foreign goods and services that are emerging, many college managers of the community are wondering what effects this will have on the material costs for their workforce development programs. With initiatives such as Rev Illinois, “our state is investing in more deliveries on site,” says Cornille, “this is how to avoid the effects of tariffs.”
Heartland examines how he integrates its programs for EV, HLK and renewable energy training programs so that students and faculty can share and transmit knowledge between them.
An understanding of batteries, electricity and the stored energy applies to each of these areas of study, explains Cornille and states: “We want to tie these programs together because there are synergy. We not only consider them as separate programs – we consider them connected.”