We are living in extraordinary times—times that are scary yet hopeful; depressing but for the first time in a long while optimistic as well.

As an energy advocate and practitioner I am especially excited and interested in the emerging concept of a “green economy.” This concept is a centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s economic plan. The recently signed Stimulus Plan or “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” provides almost $100 billion dollars toward what can be called our new Green Economy. So what is this and how will it impact us in a positive way?

We may first need to define “green.” We hear the word green used all the time anymore. It is used in connection with products, services, companies, building, and materials. And be careful because green means different things to different people and is a concept that has been exploited by many seeking to cash in on its popularity.

Green is a very fluid concept and therefore by its nature hard to define. The bar is always being raised and the standards are always changing. For example, compact fluorescent light bulbs (cfb) are green because they save energy and have a positive impact on the environment but these may become “old news” once LED (light emitting diodes) lighting becomes the standard. These lights are even more efficient then CFB’s and will be ready for widespread applications very soon.

So green as a qualifier or descriptor is a very fluid term. In my world I have chosen a simple criteria for defining green. It has to be about the environment—the indoor and outdoor environment. So being green as a product or service must be about maintaining a consistently positive impact on the indoor and outdoor environment.

So with this in mind lets define the Green Economy. This is an effort to solve the current environmental crisis (dependence on imported oil, carbon emissions, air pollution, etc.) and the current economic crisis (job loss, price of fuel, cost to build new power plants, etc.) together by investing in the clean energy sector and creating jobs in the process. The clean energy sector is comprised of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and alternative fueled vehicles. Economists and environmentalists are allies for the first time ever!

So simply put a green economic approach will impact the environment in a positive way by investing in the clean energy sector and infrastructure and will improve the economy by not only creating jobs but by creating a clean, affordable, and independent energy future.

This concept and investment as evidenced by the stimulus plan are certainly hopeful and optimistic but more importantly they are pragmatic efforts to solve problems that have been lingering, festering, and ignored for far too long.

Billy Weitzenfeld is the Executive Director of the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals (AECP). AECP is a non-profit energy education and advocacy organization located in Floyd, Virginia. He is a certified Home Energy rater, holds a tradesman license as a Master in Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC), is a past member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Green Building Council SW Virginia Chapter, serves on the Virginia Weatherization Policy Advisory Council, and is the Executive Director of the Sustainable Living Education Center.