VOA教育报道2024--US Community Colleges Offer Clean Energy Training

Across the United States, students are now looking to community colleges for training in jobs related to climate change solutions. These include wind and solar energy, electrification¹, and protecting water and farmland.

For example, on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, students learn how to work on an electric vehicle (or EV) in a new technician program at Olive-Harvey College.

About 240 kilometers south, students at Danville Area Community College learn how to fix large wind turbines.

In Albuquerque, students learn how to work on solar panels at Central New Mexico Community College.

In Boston, Massachusetts, students at Roxbury Community College's Center for Smart Building Technology learn how to strengthen buildings against extreme temperatures. They also learn how to build structures that contribute less to climate change.

Kyle Johnson is a 34-year-old student at Olive-Harvey College in Illinois. Johnson has long enjoyed working on gasoline-fueled cars. But automobiles² are increasingly electric.

"When it came to EVs, I knew that the times are changing, and I didn't want to get left behind," he said. "Climate change has a lot to do with my decision," he added.

Changing job market

The job market already has been changing. Businesses and jobs that address climate change are growing. And now legislation like the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is adding more investment which will most likely mean more jobs.

Millions of clean energy workers are needed to meet targets set by governments and companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions³. Many of these job opportunities are growing faster than overall employment in the U.S.

Brian Lovell of Roxbury Community College has seen that firsthand. "While the students are still in the program, they get employed because the demands of industry are so acute," he said of the students in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Traditionally, people going into these industries gained skills through local employers and labor⁴ organizations. But now community colleges can help. They listen to companies and state officials and create hands-on training for open jobs.

Kate Kinder is executive director of the National Council for Workforce⁵ Education. She said "over half of these jobs" require less than a four-year college degree and more than a high school education.

"That's prime community college space," she said of the two-year associate program.

These job openings draw in students like Tannar Pouilliard.

Pouilliard had thought he would become an automotive technician. However, after learning about openings in the wind power industry, he enrolled⁷ in Danville's wind energy technician classes. He said, "It really opens the door for people out here for jobs."

College investment in new programs

At the same time, community colleges have been losing students, not unlike the rest of higher education. Currently, more people are entering the workforce straight out of high school. And some community colleges have not recovered from the decrease in enrollment⁸ that happened during the pandemic.

Some schools say investing in these programs is a balancing act between staying up-to-date and risking a bet on developing technology.

"We feel the pressure," said Monica Brummer. She is director of the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence⁹ for Clean Energy at Centralia College in Washington. "If we create curriculum today for, say, a hydrogen technician, it may not be the curriculum we need in two or three years, because the technology is changing so fast ..."

Some schools hope to make the change without new and costly¹⁰ investments.

For example, Minnesota's Inver Hills Community College launched a climate change program in 2022 using existing areas of study at the school. Now, administrators¹¹ are considering expanding that program. As well, Cape¹² Cod¹³ Community College recently changed from specialized¹⁴ workforce training to a wider sustainable energy study program.

Other community colleges help prepare students like Sarah Solis for a four-year degree program related to climate change.

Solis was enrolled at West Los Angeles College, a community college near the Inglewood Oil Field. The oil field is what led her to environmental studies. She later changed to the school's climate change degree, which was new at the time. Its climate change program has grown since then; it is now home to the California Center for Climate Change Education.

Then Solis went to the University of California, Davis, and earned a degree in environmental science and management. She teaches city farms how to deal with a warming future. And she credits her success to her community college experience.

Solis called her experience at the community college "life changing." She added, "I would not be an environmental scientist right now if I hadn't gone to West."

Many other students said the same thing.

Words in This Story

wind turbine -n. an engine whose central driving shaft¹⁵ is fitted with a series of blades spun¹⁶ around by the pressure wind for generating electricity

solar panel -n. a battery of solar cells (as on a rooftop)

greenhouse gas -n. any of various gaseous¹⁷ compounds (such as carbon dioxide or methane) that absorb infrared¹⁸ radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere, and contribute to the greenhouse effect

acute -adj. demanding urgent attention

prime -adj. first in rank or importance

associate -adj. a degree given especially by a junior college

enroll⁶ -v. to become a member

1 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

2 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

7 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

9 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

12 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

13 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

14 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

15 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

16 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

17 gaseous   

adj.气体的，气态的

参考例句：

• Air whether in the gaseous or liquid state is a fluid.空气，无论是气态的或是液态的，都是一种流体。
• Freon exists both in liquid and gaseous states.氟利昂有液态和气态两种形态。

18 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。