{"id":1228287,"date":"2025-04-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/?p=1228287"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:29:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T17:29:49","slug":"black-american-clean-energy-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/black-american-clean-energy-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Green Opportunity Gap: Expanding Black Access for Economic Mobility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The clean energy transition represents a significant economic opportunity, projected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and a $23 trillion market by 2030<\/a>. Yet Black Americans remain significantly underrepresented. Despite making up over 13 percent of the U.S. population, Black workers account for only eight percent of the clean energy workforce, and Black-owned businesses constitute less than one percent of companies in this booming sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies\u2019 convening, The Wealth Agenda: Seizing the Moment for Black Economic Advancement<\/em>, the “The Green Opportunity Gap: Expanding Access for Black Economic Mobility” panel exposed systemic barriers preventing Black participation \u2014 chief among them, the expectation of unpaid training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clean energy industry leaders acknowledged that there is a workforce crisis. On our panel, Jason Grumet, president of the American Clean Power Association noted \u201cWe need to hire 500,000 people in the next decade … We are struggling to find talent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet unpaid training locks out Black workers who cannot afford to forgo wages for career advancement. Carla Walker-Miller, CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services, put it plainly: “If you want [Black people] to be trained, pay us. We cannot take two weeks off from babysitting our own kids, from working the jobs that pay us. We need to be paid while we’re trained.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many Black workers, choosing between unpaid training and a paying job is not a choice at all. Paid workforce training assists in removing financial barriers, ensuring Black workers can enter the clean energy field without extreme economic sacrifice. Paid training is not just about diversity and equity \u2014 it\u2019s a business imperative to meet the industry\u2019s labor demands and a key principle<\/a> that the Joint Center recommends should be included in the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just securing clean energy jobs isn\u2019t enough. Wealth-building in this industry also includes business ownership. Yet, according to American Clean Power, less than 25 percent of Black-owned businesses secure bank financing, compared to nearly 50 percent of white-owned businesses<\/a>, limiting their ability to scale in the clean energy industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the panel, Paula Glover, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, emphasized: “When we talk about Black people growing in this business, we talk about jobs. But we don\u2019t talk about small business, and small business is wealth.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker-Miller also highlighted the scale of the gap: “When people lift me up as one of the largest Black woman-owned businesses in clean energy, I say shame on us because I am a funky $150 million company. I shouldn\u2019t even be in the top hundred.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalie Cofield, CEO of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, pointed out that some of the fastest-growing millionaires in the U.S. come from fields such as HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work \u2014 all directly tied to clean energy. To close the racial wealth gap, Black entrepreneurs must have access to capital, contracts, and market opportunities in the green economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While recent political shifts \u2014 such as the rescinding of the Climate Crisis Executive Order which required<\/a> agencies to direct 40 percent of the benefits of federal climate programs to disadvantaged communities \u2014 pose challenges to equity-based policies, there are still actionable steps to advance Black participation. State governments should require that a percentage of clean energy funds support paid training programs for underrepresented workers. Local governments can mandate that clean energy projects include paid training commitments as a condition for permitting. Industry leaders, community colleges, and workforce organizations must partner to develop structured training programs that offer paid stipends and direct job placements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite political fluctuations, clean energy remains a market-driven transition. As Grumet noted during our panel, \u201cThere was more wind power built in the Trump administration than the Biden administration.\u201d Business imperatives \u2014 not just policy \u2014 are driving this shift. To meet labor shortages and sustain growth, expanding Black participation is essential. Paid training directly benefits both workers seeking economic mobility and businesses needing skilled employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the clean energy industry has failed to market itself effectively to Black communities. Danielle Deane-Ryan, senior fellow at The New School\u2019s Tishman Environment and Design Center, observed: “We’ve got a great product, poor marketing, and poor distribution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker-Miller stressed that messaging must connect clean energy to real-life concerns: “Telling people their grandchild will have more asthma attacks because they like the high flame on their gas stove is a different conversation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To build trust and engagement, clean energy must be framed in personal, tangible terms \u2014 like health improvements, household savings, and long-term economic stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in today\u2019s divisive political climate, the clean energy transition remains a powerful tool to bridge racial economic disparities. Paid training programs offer an immediate, practical solution to expand Black participation, address labor shortages, and start to build a more inclusive economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Walker-Miller stated: \u201cIf we truly want an inclusive clean energy future, the message is clear: Pay us to train us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the clean energy industry to succeed, Black economic inclusion must be a priority \u2014 not an afterthought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit The Joint Center at <\/em>https:\/\/jointcenter.org\/<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black Americans are underrepresented in the clean energy industry, with systemic barriers such as unpaid training preventing their participation, but paid training programs and effective marketing can help expand their involvement and bridge the racial wealth gap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2344,"featured_media":1228288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_primary_brand":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","nota_seo_page_title":"","nota_seo_page_description":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"small","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30854,33757],"tags":[81893,2072,709,81894,68807,81896,81829,81895,48618,45950],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"nota":[],"coauthors":[81392,81828],"class_list":["post-1228287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supplements","category-sustainability","tag-american-clean-power-association","tag-black-americans","tag-black-owned-businesses","tag-danielle-deane-ryan","tag-dedrick-asante-muhammad","tag-jason-grumet","tag-latoya-parker","tag-natalie-cofield","tag-paula-glover","tag-wi-supplements","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nClosing the Green Opportunity Gap for Black workers - The Washington Informer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The clean energy transition offers economic opportunities, but Black Americans face systemic barriers to participation. 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