In the current economic climate, there is a lot of talk about rising unemployment. But according to one MIT professor, what we should be facing is the exact opposite. “There is actually so much to do we’re actually going to have labor shortages in coming years,” says MIT professor J. Phillip Thompson. Thompson is a professor of urban planning, and a staunch advocate of green jobs.

Thompson argues that especially in major cities all over America, there is enough “green” work to employ thousands of people. Thompson believes that by prioritizing projects that have an environmental and public health impact, many new jobs could be created.

As of December 2008, there were 26,000 Massachusetts construction workers out of work. Thompson argues that these workers would be ideally suited for environmental cleanup work, such as removing mold, lead paint, PCBs, and asbestos, a carcinogen linked to the rare cancer mesothelioma. These out of work people could receive the training they need via union apprenticeships. According to some estimates, nearly $6.5 million worth of green jobs are now available.

Thompson argues that large amounts of the multi-billion federal stimulus money being awarded to all 50 states could be used to create green jobs like weatherization of buildings to reduce energy loss, or removing lead pipes and asbestos-laced insulation in low-income areas.

“There are a lot of pots of money out there, and potentially it could create many thousands of jobs,” Thompson says.

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