California’s gotten quite a bit of Stimulus Bill money to create green jobs — but jobs in renewable energy and clean tech have been slow in coming. Why? Alana Semuels explains in L.A. Times:

Some of that delay was to be expected. The stimulus package gave priority to so-called shovel-ready projects to maximize job creation. The result is that much of the employment created has been in conventional infrastructure projects such as road construction.

Then there are administrative delays. Funds can take months to be funneled through various levels of bureaucracy. The real effect will probably be seen in the first quarter of 2010, as projects move from the planning stage to implementation, said Richard Little, director of USC’s Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.

In addition, some of the funding’s going to research which will only yield jobs in the long-term, and many workers seeking green jobs don’t have the skills those jobs require. Read the L.A. Times article for more details and some personal stories of people and companies in the green industry.

Earlier:
>> A map of California’s green economy — and a Green Jobs Guidebook
>> Book review: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Careers
>> The Green Collar Economy: How environmentalism can help the economy
>> The Federal Stimulus — What It Means for L.A. and the Environment
>> Decide which green projects deserve L.A.’s Stimulus Bill money

Image via Penguin.com

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