|
|
|
|
Creating a Climate-Literate Workforce in Colorado, Starting in Middle School
By Taylor Maag
PPI's Director of Workforce Development Policy
for The 74
The Yampa Valley of Colorado is breathtaking – with the Flat Top Mountains and the Yampa river. It is a region of deep history and natural beauty. But it’s not hard to see the effects of climate change. It is getting hotter and drier, the snowpack is changing and wildfire risk is at an all-time high. And this isn’t unique to that area of the state. A majority of Colorado has warmed 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century. In 2020, 625,000 acres burned in forest fires, and warming temperatures are decreasing the snowpack in the southern Rockies.
To solve these challenges, the state and the nation at large need a workforce that is prepared to address the concerns of today, find solutions for tomorrow and transition the country to a more climate-conscious economy. Unfortunately, the rapidly growing clean-energy sector is bumping up against serious labor constraints, having difficulty filling jobs and ensuring that workers have the needed skills. In the next seven years, there are expected to be over 550,000 new energy-transition jobs in the U.S. In 2022 alone, green job postings on LinkedIn jumped 20% — yet the pool of workers with the skills required to fill them grew by only 8.4%.
|
|
|
New from the Experts
Taylor Maag, PPI's Director of Workforce Development Policy: How Online Education Can Open Doors for Rural Students
⮕ PPI Blog
Paul Weinstein Jr., PPI Senior Fellow: America’s Tax Code Is A Hot Mess
⮕ Forbes
One way to get China to clean up faster: build a ‘climate club’, ft. Ed Gresser, PPI's Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets
⮕ Washington Post
ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, Washington, D.C., ft. Diana Moss, PPI's Vice President and Director of Competition Policy
⮕ JDSupra
Another Real Pink Tax, ft. Ed Gresser, PPI's Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets
⮕ National Review
|
|
|
Trade Fact of the Week
By Ed Gresser
PPI's Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets
Trade Fact of the Week
Fact: U.S. life expectancy loss during the COVID-19 pandemic: -1 year for college-educated, -4 years for high school diploma or less.
The Numbers: Largest drops in U.S. life expectancy, last 125 years –
1917-1918: -11.8 years
1902-1904: -3.9 years
1942-1943: -2.9 years
2019-2021: -2.4 years
|
|
|
|
Register For Our Upcoming Events!
|
|
|
Mosaic Moment
Building the Next Digital Workforce Generation
On this episode of Mosaic Moment, Jasmine Stoughton sits down with PPI’s Director of Workforce Development Policy, Taylor Maag, and Senior Software Engineer, Eela Nagaraj, to talk about the importance of building a strong digital workforce and how governments and the tech industry are ensuring the next generation of skilled professionals.
|
|
|
|
Don't Miss These PPI Reports
|
|
Staff Spotlight: Stu Malec
 Stu Malec
National Political Director
Stuart Malec is the National Political Director for the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). In this role, Stuart helps to oversee and implement PPI’s congressional engagement strategy. He administers PPI’s congressional fellowship program, which places policy and communications fellows within the New Democrat Coalition and Blue Dog Coalition in the U.S. House of Representatives. Stuart also manages external relations with several key PPI partners.
Before joining PPI, Stuart worked in multiple congressional offices for the first eight years of his professional career. He was Communications Director for two Democratic U.S. Representatives, serving on the senior staff for lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Armed Services Committees. Prior to his ascension to Communications Director, Stuart led outreach programs for a congressional district office and worked on state and local political campaigns.
Stuart is a proud New Englander and alum of the University of Rhode Island. He now lives in Washington D.C., where he enjoys playing basketball, traveling, and co-parenting his dog, Biscuit, when not at work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
