Homeowners Alone Can't Turn Blue Collars Green

A funny thing happened on the way to the green economy: A recession wiped out countless old-line jobs, along with funding for the so-called green-collar jobs that were supposed to replace many of them.

Last year, President Obama made green jobs a centerpiece of his job creation and stimulus programs. But despite the promises, we haven't been able to create green-collar jobs anywhere near fast enough to replace the jobs that have been lost. That's particularly true in fields related to construction work, which have been hard hit by the housing market collapse.

The unemployment rate jumped to nearly 25 percent in January for people in construction jobs, according a recent article in Time magazine. In some parts of the country joblessness in construction could be as high as 30 percent, Time reports.