Researchers Ask "What's a Green Job?"

Green jobs will be the focus when President Barack Obama's task force on middle-class families meets for the first time in Philadelphia today. The panel will hear from experts on how to create those jobs and help middle-class workers find them.

David Passmore with Penn State University says it's important to define what jobs truly are "green." Construction jobs may be green if workers are doing things like installing solar panels. But other construction jobs may not be. Passmore says it's important to come up with a definition to make sure that investments in these jobs are targeted in the right ways. Otherwise, he says the spending could be wasted.

Passmore and fellow Penn State researcher Rose Baker recently authored a report that establishes benchmarks for green employment in Pennsylvania. They used definitions set by the Center for American Progress. The researchers say by tabulating how many green jobs Pennsylvania has now, the state can use the data to better target its own job creation investments.