Profiles in Clean Energy: Once locked in, an expert moves students toward a career in climate solutions

PHILADELPHIA – In a converted warehouse in one of Philadelphia’s poorest neighborhoods, students circle around Jackie Robinson as he questions them about a 1980s oven. Although they encounter older equipment like this, the program is groundbreaking and focused on training people to work on homes in ways that address climate change and make clean energy affordable.

More than 3.3 million people work in the clean energy industry and this number is growing rapidly. But Robinson, a construction trades instructor, is concerned that this is not widely understood.

“Many low-income people don’t even know these jobs exist… it’s about getting the word out,” he said.

In addition to expanding a key workforce, solid career opportunities also reduce recidivism. Robinson’s own transition into the clean energy workforce and eventually into this nonprofit organization, the Energy Coordinating Agency, occurred during his time in prison.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of an occasional series of personal stories about the energy transition – the shift away from a fossil fuel-based world that is largely driving climate change.

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He served 27 years in prison for a drug trafficking conviction.

“I was a top student in school, there’s no doubt about that. But sometimes you think you’re smart and you get mixed up with the wrong people… and you think, ‘Hey, it’s great money, easy money, but…’…there’s no happy ending,” he said.

His three young children were the motivation to use all that time inside to learn new skills so he could care for them when he got out.

Robinson took courses in welding, carpentry, accounting, fashion merchandising and Arabic. “If it was a free class that taught me something, I took it,” he said.

“They got the body, fine,” he said, referring to the confinement, raising his hands to his eyes, “but I could go to a lot of places in my mind.”

Johnson Controls, the international construction equipment company, also offered classes within the prison system. There, Robinson was first introduced to the energy field and had the opportunity to work on refrigerators and heating and air conditioning equipment. Johnson Controls hired a few people when they were released from prison, and Robinson was one.

After working there and at another organization that offered internship programs, Connection Training Services, he ended up at this equity-focused nonprofit, housed in a sprawling warehouse in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. Where Civil War uniforms were once sewn, a life-size roof covers the floor where students can practice installing solar panels, and mazes of walls reveal exposed pipes.

With his keys jingling and his cane tapping softly on the wooden floor, Robinson, 59, leads a group to a back room to study circuits. Above a window, painted on the wall, is a Benjamin Franklin quote that Robinson said is one of his favorites: “He who has a trade has an estate.”

It speaks to his reason for wanting to teach these skills. “It changes the financial structure of his entire family,” he said. “As people in the community earn more money, the standard of the community goes up. We improve housing and everything that comes with it.’

That’s the dream of Quenton McClellan, 61, who heard about the training from his human resources counselor at Narcotics Anonymous. He worked as a bartender and struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. “I drank a lot, you know, I took a long look at myself and I went to get help,” he said.

Today, McClellan has been drug and alcohol free for two years. “It feels good because now I can think, and once I couldn’t even think. And it’s just a wonderful feeling… I want to learn. I want to move forward.” The students also care for each other, McClellan said, like no one ever cared for him before.

He will be certified to install heat pumps, a climate-friendly replacement for old furnaces and air conditioners.

“These types of workers are absolutely and desperately needed right now, and organizations that can train them are in high demand,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, also known as E2, an independent business group that advocates for clean energy. .

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, with its tax breaks for heat pumps, solar panels and incentives for clean energy production, is expected to create more than 109,000 new jobs, Keefe said. Heat pumps can be installed anywhere, creating a need for workers in every state.

“When I tried to install heat pumps in my house a few years ago, I couldn’t even find a contractor who knew how to do it. In the end I had to do it myself,” he says.

While teaching a class on installing this type of heating and air conditioning, Robinson notices a few students in the back of the classroom on their phones, and he makes a mental note to contact them later. He often texts students to check on them, he said, to provide guidance and life advice.

The Energy Coordinating Agency trains more than 200 people each year to become building analysts, solar panel installers and commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians. It offers the classes for free, with funding from grants. People with a low income from the neighborhood can also go for help with their energy bills and budget advice.

Seeing students who have felt “left out” start careers and support their families is what is gratifying, Robinson says.

“This work that I do is just my legacy. I learned that I know how to do something, and I can pass it on to the next generation, and we use it to make a living and increase generational wealth,” he said.

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