By Steve Giegerich

It's the catch phrase on the lips of every politician, economic expert and
career counselor with a panacea to cure an ailing job market. This week, the
President's Council of Economic Advisers took its turn.

Health care and "clean energy production and environmental protection" stand as
the centerpieces of economic and job recovery, the council announced.

There it is again — "green" jobs.

By the time 2016 rolls around, the council predicts the number of employment
opportunities in environmental fields since 2001 will have risen by 52 percent.

The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates that 770,000 clean energy jobs were created
between 1997-2008.

That may well be, but for most of us the notion of someone drawing an actual
salary from a job classified as "green" is still a pretty abstract concept.

So, meet Chris DeMoor.

A father of six, DeMoor, 38, describes himself as "just a journeyman
electrician."

His overly modest assessment (as anyone who has ever grappled with the
circuitry powering household lights and appliances can well attest) may have
been applicable in 1990, the year DeMoor earned his first union card from Local
1 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

But the professional landscape began to shift about five years ago when global
warming became a national conversation, prompting an evaluation of carbon
footprints by businesses and individuals alike.

The electrical industry took notice. As did DeMoor.

He began taking intensive training programs offered by the IBEW and his
employer, Guarantee Electric, to ease the transition from the traditional means
of electrical generation.

The training moved the Fenton resident from the "comfort zone" of the tried and
true practices of his profession and into the realms of solar power,
sophisticated battery power-storage systems and other advances in the
electrical field, no pun intended.

"It can be a difficult transition because of fear of the unknown," DeMoor said.
"But with what is going on in the country, I had to ask myself, 'Will I have a
job tomorrow?'"

With the recession stealing away work from 5,500 members of Local 1 and 725,000
union electricians nationwide, it's a good question.

Odds are that DeMoor will, for the simple reason that his personal compass
pointed him in the direction that career counselors say is key to surviving in
the post-recession job market.

An advanced degree isn't necessary. DeMoor doesn't have one, but, he says, he
does have an open mind.

"I believe I'm going to learn until the day I die and after that comes the big
understanding," he said.

"We can either fear technology or, we can figure it out."

DeMoor's philosophy landed him on the Ferguson campus where Emerson Electric
makes its headquarters.

Named project superintendent by Guarantee, the national electronic contractor
based in St. Louis, DeMoor has spent the last year supervising the installation
of the labyrinthine electrical system in the 35,000-square foot global data
center Emerson will open next month.

The facility represents a $50 million investment in building and informational
technology equipment. It is designed to save energy in the operation of
everything from high-powered servers to ventilation to a sensor system that
automatically shuts off the lights when a room is not in use. A "redundant"
energy storage system to prevent power outages and 240 battery cells to
preserve energy are among the highlights DeMoor notes proudly during a tour of
the building.

For the grand finale, DeMoor led me up a ladder and through a trap door to the
roof where a 550-panel, 7,800-square-foot solar energy grid, capable of
providing the structure with up to 25 percent of its power, rises majestically
above the immaculate Emerson campus.

It is believed to be the largest solar grid in the state.

"No smokestacks," DeMoor observed. "No carbon emissions."

The unassuming DeMoor credits the project's architects and engineers
responsible for the data center's design and infrastructure. "There were
certain things that were sort of difficult to understand but generally,
electricity is just electricity," DeMoor shrugged.

Brushing aside the suggestion that the center's Byzantine electrical schematic
suggests he deserves a little credit, too, DeMoor insisted again that he is
simply a "journeyman electrician."

"By the letter of the law, I'm the same as everybody else," DeMoor explained.

Albeit, much greener.