Top 10 Green Jobs (That Pay Big Bucks)
By RandyR
First posted on 10-22-2008
Forbes magazine has come up with a list of the top ten “green” jobs in environmental field that have salaries over $100,000. Some of these positions did not even exist just a few years ago or were more obscure positions, but Forbes’ list demonstrates the importance the environment is becoming to society.
The top 10 environmental jobs paying over $100,000 per year according to Forbes:
1. Chief Sustainability Officer
Making sure governmental regulations are met and working on ways to improve an organization’s environmentally friendly goals is the task of these professionals.
2. Environmental Engineer
These engineers work to minimize the environmental impact of construction and development projects. The demand for environmental engineers is projected to grow by 25% by 2016.
3. Environmental Lawyer
Representing either environmental groups or their adversaries, the increased demand for these positions indicate an increasingly litigious world.
4. Climatologist/Environmental Meteorologist
Study of the weather, its changing patterns and the affects of global warming.
5. Renewable Energy Manager
The thrust toward using more environmentally friendly fuels – biofuel, biomass, wind power, solar – has created the need to manage them all for utility companies as well as for each of the renewable energy industries cropping up.
6. Environmental Specialist/Scientist
Never earning much respect on campus until now, environmental science majors are getting hot. Environmental Specialists can work in the field or at the desk.
7. Senior Urban Planner
Urban planners with experience or knowledge of designing effective public transit friendly cities are in big demand.
8. Commercial/Industrial Designer
Designers who work with sustainable materials and are able to create environmentally friendly products are in high demand.
9. Conservation Scientist
Conservation scientists work to ensure that our natural resources will last by analyzing how they are used, conserved and, if possible, replaced.
10. Senior Hydrologist
Hydro for water. Those working in this field manage wastewater treatment, watersheds and sewers. As water becomes an increasingly valuable commodity, these professionals jobs may get tougher.