With a greater economic focus on environmental issues, some are starting to wondering if environmental jobs could be the next tech boom? When President Obama took office he pledge to create 5 million new "green collar jobs" in a decade. Some say the results of these jobs can be like the tech boom of the mid-to-late 1990s. The results still remain to be seen but the potential for growth and a mainstreaming of these jobs, more and more people could turn to environmental jobs. Areas of job growth could be in renewable energy, technology, building/retrofitting and so on. Only time will tell but these environmental jobs have the potential to rise in popularity in the next few years.

What does this mean for rural communities in states such as West Virginia? This could mean a change in the type of economy, from a high carbon economy to a low carbon economy. These communities will hope to create green jobs for all skill levels that will build a more stable economy for the future.