Last week, a new partnership among New Jersey’s public and private entities launched the Trenton Green Initiative, a long-term effort to promote climate protection through energy-efficient practices in the state’s capital. With the implementation of these practices, the initiative aims to significantly lower energy use and costs in Trenton, as well as create and expand green businesses in the city and spur related job growth.

The initiative will be funded by the partnership, which comprises the city of Trenton, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Governor’s Office of Energy Savings, Mercer County and Isles Inc. The project will be carried out over an indefinite period of time, according to Kent Ashworth, aide to Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer.

The initiative’s public-private partnership could serve as an example for other cities and towns that are developing and implementing environmentally friendly practices, Ashworth says. “We hope that what is being piloted in Trenton will provide a template for the state,” he says.

Work is already under way to move this initiative forward. Earlier this year, Gov. Jon Corzine signed legislation to phase out incandescent light bulbs in state buildings and require the use of Energy Star products by all state agencies.

Promoting energy efficiency practices is also expected to drive economic development and job growth in the city, says Carl Van Horn, professor of public policy and director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development in New Brunswick.

“There are many opportunities that are available for energy efficiency work, whether it’s retrofitting buildings and homes or doing energy audits,” Van Horn says. “It provides job opportunities [and] creates entrepreneurial opportunities for people to start businesses.”

Trenton is currently lacking in green businesses that promote energy efficiency and other environmentally friendly measures, notes Marty Johnson, president and CEO of Isles Inc., a Trenton-based community development and environmental organization that builds and restores energy-efficient homes. Aside from SunPower, a solar panel retailer, and TerraCycle, a manufacturer of fertilizer made with worm excrement, “there’s not a whole lot of presence here of the green sector,” he says.

However, Trenton’s low building and labor costs can attract business, he says. “We think that there’s the potential for there to be much more green business development because of the competitive advantages we have,” he adds.

Also, green businesses, including those in biofuels, construction, recycling and waste management, have been booming amid concern over rising energy costs and a greater awareness of energy efficiency, says Martin Bierbaum, director of the Municipal Land Use Center at the College of New Jersey in Ewing. “It seems as though sustainability and green building and green jobs is really gaining a tremendous momentum in the last year or so,” he says.

The expansion of the green business sector will generate more green-collar jobs that support climate protection, says Johnson. He expects the initiative will create anywhere from several hundred to several thousand new jobs in Trenton. The state’s capital’s unemployment rate was 10.7 percent in 2006, compared with a county average of 4.2 percent, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Several proposed measures under the Trenton Green Initiative outline specific green-collar job opportunities for local residents. The Energy Smart Home Inspection and Maintenance Initiative provides home inspection services to local residents. Youths and adults conduct energy auditing services and perform solar installation and remediation services.

The Green Roof Initiative, meanwhile, will encourage the planting of rooftop gardens on government buildings, schools and businesses in Trenton. The School Bus Biodiesel Initiative will develop a small-scale commercial biodiesel production plant to provide school buses and other local vehicles, with locally produced biodiesel, or fuel made from local waste vegetable oil. This plan will generate jobs in biodiesel production, distribution and community education.

Expanding green businesses and jobs in Trenton, however, depends largely on whether local residents will be equipped to work in green-collar careers. “You have to make sure you figure out a way to get folks that live there into that labor force stream through education and training,” says Van Horn.”

The Trenton Green Initiative is tackling the issue. With the Pilot Green Collar Careers Program, the partnership will create demonstration projects with local vendors, suppliers, manufacturers and energy companies providing job training and jobs related to climate protection.

Also, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development plans to form a Green Jobs Workforce Advisory Committee in the next few months, says spokeswoman Marcela Ospina. The committee, which will consist of local businesses, public agencies, labor unions, higher-education institutions and others, will meet to identify the skills and certifications that will be required to perform green-collar jobs, or jobs that are related to climate protection.

“They’re going to figure out a curriculum so that we can train the residents of Trenton to be able to take these jobs,” says Ospina. The training will run from basic courses to high-level certifications and be at vocational and technical schools, community colleges and four-year universities.

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