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Green-collar jobs

The workplace is turning more eco-friendly, creating new occupations

Have some coffee? Yes!

After 34 years working in Toledo Ohio’s automotive industry, John Morris was laid off, and left to fend for himself in a bleak job market. ‘Being that I was in automotive, it just was not then out there.’ But to his surprise, his skills on the assembly line actually came in handy, landing him a job as a safety engineer at Xunlight, a start-up company that makes solar energy panels. ‘I'm a green-collar worker now. It was very exciting for me, to be able to start on the ground floor of a new type of development.’

Our modules are light-weight and flexible...

The company’s president and CEO Xunming Deng believes Toledo is a good place to grow his company, in part because of the availability of skilled factory workers like John Morris. ‘There are some venture capitalists that say that we gotta move to California to grow a successful startup. But there are other venture capitalists, they come over and say, they said Xunming, this is the wonderful place because you have all these highly trained workers available to help out, they are just right there!’

Before Xunlight, Toledo was already home to First Solar, the nation’s largest solar panel maker. But it’s not just Toledo, green-collar jobs are sprouting up across the country. And with the proper incentives, analysts say the industry could generate 3,000,000 new jobs over the next two decades. ‘It could leak overseas, unless the United States, I think it's particularly the Federal level, is really aggressive about providing Federal supports.’ George Sterzinger with a renewable energy policy project fears the US could miss out on this emerging market. "One of the things that people have to realize is that it is a potential, it’s only a potential…" Toledo’s mayor Carty Finkbiener has seen the potential, he singles out solar energy as one of the lone bright spots in Ohio, a state that has lost close to a quarter of its manufacturing jobs in the last decade. "We regain some of the lost quality of life, some of the lost jobs, the economic vigor."

For John Morris, the future is going green. "It's a business that I hope, I don't have to worry about tomorrow will I be out of the job and there’s a good future for us." But advocates for green-collar jobs says Congress is the key, despite the success stories, tax credits for alternative energies were not renewed in 2007. Analysts say those tax credits are facing an uphill battle this year. Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.

Notes:

Come in handy: Used casually when someone comments that something unexpected could prove useful.

文本参考中文翻译

工作场所现在越来越生态友好，这创造出新的工作岗位。

要来点咖啡吗？当然。

在俄亥俄州托莱多汽车行业工作了34年之久的John Morris 被解雇了，不得不到萧瑟的就业市场中谋求生路。“由于我之前是在汽车行业工作

的，就业形势非常不好。”但是，他出色的生产线技术迟早会派上用场，终于给他轻松迎来一份新工作，在一家制作太阳能面板的新公司做安

全工程师。“现在我是绿领工作人员了。能够在一个全新的发展机会中从零开始我感到非常激动。”

“我们的模具非常轻，非常柔韧。”

该公司的总裁和CEO Xunming Deng相信，托莱多非常适合自己的公司发展，有一部分是因为可以找到像John Morris这样的技术工人。“有一些

冒险资本家说，我们应该搬迁到加利福尼亚来寻求一个好的开始。但是另外一些冒险资本家说，这是一个好地方，因为你可以在这里找到经过

高级巡礼的技术人员来帮忙，他们唾手可得。”

在Xunlight之前，托莱多已经是美国最大的太阳能面板制造商的基地。但是不仅仅是在托莱多，全国各地绿领行业都如雨后春笋般涌现出来。

分析家表示，如果有合适的激励政策，该行业在未来的二十年内能够创造出3，000，000个新的工作岗位。“除非美国政府，尤其是联邦政府能

够提供支持，这种机会会流失到国外。”George Sterzinger提出了新的能源政策项目，他担心美国会丢掉这个正在涌现的新行业。“人们需要

意识到的一点是，这是潜在的，仅仅是潜在的……”托莱多市长Carty Finkbiener看到了这种潜力，他将太能能列为俄亥俄州的亮点。而过去

十年里，俄亥俄州曾经减少了接近四分之一的制造业岗位。“我们重新获得一些失去的生活质量，一些就业机会，一些经济活力。”

对John Morris来说，前途春意盎然。“我希望在这个新的行业中，我不需要担心明天我会不会失业，希望我们都有美好的未来。”但是绿领行

业保卫者表示，国会是关键问题。虽然实验比较成功，但是2007年选择性能源并没有收到新的税收抵免。分析家表示，税收抵免今年形势会更

加严峻。

单词注解：
Come in handy 迟早会有用(派上用场)