by Tim O'Connor

Created on: January 28, 2009

Or - Green Street Meets Main Street: It's Starting To Look Like the Future Is Now.

If you take a look at the Whitehouse.gov Website, click on Agenda and choose any of these three choices: Economy, Energy and Environment, or Poverty, you'll see the following promises.

Economy - "Doubling the production of alternative energy in the next three years."
Energy and Environment - "Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future."

Poverty - "Create a Green Jobs Corps: Obama and Biden will create a program to directly engage disadvantaged youth in energy efficiency opportunities to strengthen their communities, while also providing them with practical skills in this important high-growth career field."

Well that sounds great for starters, but let's drill down a bit (pun intended) and see if we can get a handle on just what this might mean.

According to a recent National Public Radio article, "Green Energy Scores Big in Obama's Stimulus Plan", the president says his $825 billion economic stimulus plan includes tens of billions of dollars to remake the country's electricity industry into a greener enterprise.

The Obama administration is planning to put 460,000 Americans to work on energy projects; and calling for the doubling of alternative energy produced over the next three years. The plan includes enough funding to "weatherize" 2 million homes by improving things such as insulation and leaky windows.

This is good news for nearly a half million American workers, but let's get a run down on some of the opportunities that may come along with or go beyond this stimulus. If we're talking green jobs here, let's broaden the definition.

If we can agree that green jobs must pay decent wages and benefits and allow workers to support their families, we can also agree that a green job must be part of a viable career path, with upside potential for growth. Green jobs must contribute to reducing waste and pollution, and they must benefit the environment in a meaningful way.

Agreed? If so, here's an annotated list of ten jobs for a bright future adapted from an article by Anya Kamenetz published on the Fast Company Web site.

1. Sustainable Agriculture. In order to lessen dependence on oil and reduce our carbon footprint you can run a small-scale, organic, local farm as a small business replete with the tax benefits of owning and running a business. The phenomenal rise in local farmers'

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