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Green Jobs Are Expanding Quickly, Get Your Degree Online Today!

August 24th, 2010

Students at a California university have retrofitted a circa-1920s fish hatchery where novelist John Steinbeck once worked. They’ve also restored research wetlands known for purifying in-ground drinking water supplies and storm water that can spill into surrounding waters, carrying ground pollutants with it. Visitors to the hatchery, now an environmental center and research village that employs more than 100 students and features interactive exhibits, can also tour demonstration gardens.

Over the past year, in fact, at least 71 colleges, universities and technical schools in the United States have announced plans for research centers with sustainable themes or have opened them, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Education has reported. The sustainability movement includes environmentally friendly buildings, sustainable academic programs and more. A Mississippi institution named one of its environmental programs after a famous graduate, the late actor Dennis Weaver, who coined the term “ecolonomics” for which the program related to profitable sustainability is named. Do not stop reading here, there is a lot more information on online university.

The Arizona Republic recently reported on how money is affecting agencies like the Departments of Environmental Quality and Water Resources that could feel the effects of a budget shortage. The Sacramento News & Review of Sacramento, California, noted that government workers are reading a book entitled, “The Green Collar Economy”. This same city is planning a yearlong, community-wide green initiative where the California university’s graduate management school dean serves as a team leader. “. . . you can’t have the ecosystem without a great research university – it doesn’t happen”, Steve Currall reportedly told the Sacramento News & Review.

The California institution isn’t the only one with ties to local government efforts. Texas Governor Rick Perry recently announced an $8.4 million grant to a National Institute for Renewable Energy and a state technical school considered a leader in wind science and engineering, according to a College Media Network article. The university has an important role in moving Texas and the rest of the nation toward energy independence that’s essential to the country’s future, according to an attribution to Perry in the article. About 90 percent of the country’s wind energy production takes place in West Texas, the College Media Network item noted. Does this seem interesting? See what other information there is about online education.

Alternatives that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions have also been a focus of research at a Montana University, where researchers have been studying underground carbon dioxide storage and alternative transportation fuel sources, such as algae. With an architectural firm, a university in Wisconsin received a $1.3 million U.S. Department of Energy grant that is to help them devise ways to reduce hospital energy use. The institution plans in part to model efforts after those of hospitals in Scandinavia that the university reports use one-quarter to one-half the amount of energy.

Energy is the largest cause of harmful gas emissions in the United States, with petroleum and natural gas accounting for more than 80 percent of those emissions, the U.S. Energy Administration reports. Hospitals and health facilities are second only to fast food restaurants in terms of energy consumption, according to an architecture professor at the Wisconsin institution. They’re responsible for about 4 percent of all energy used in the United States, the professor noted.

Getting first-hand experience with the environment doesn’t mean that studies have to take place entirely on campus. Some online environmental degree programs might involve independent research projects. A U.S. Department of Education study reportedly found that students perform best academically when they combine online college studies with campus-based studies, and a graduate online college program in Earth Literacy New Jersey, includes a five-day residency program. Use the internet to find out more about online graduate degrees.

Online environmental degree and certificate programs particularly allow professionals to update their knowledge base and skills, making them more marketable in an area where job growth has occurred and is expected to continue to expand. The number of jobs in a clean energy economy grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, which was 2.5 times faster than job growth overall, according to information from the Pew Charitable Trusts cited in a July article in suburban Chicago’s Daily Herald newspaper.

The environmental field is growing as energy conservation becomes more and more vital to the success of the planet. Those getting an online degree to move into this comprehensive field will find online school meets their needs, allowing them to incorporate new and advancing ideas with their dedication to service.