By Lena Babaeva Coradini

An important question: are green jobs good jobs?

A U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Green Jobs report earlier this year, for example, found low pay in wind and solar energy, green construction and recycling workplaces, with jobs in recycling processing paying as low as $8.25 an hour and jobs in renewable-energy factories paying as little as $11 an hour.

According to that report, many wind and solar factories pay below the national average for workers manufacturing durable goods, and most green carpenters, roofers, painters and laborers earn less than $12.50 per hour.

The findings from the PayScale and Clean Edge survey strike something of a counterpoint to that study.

The median earnings found in the survey range from $36,100 per year for an insulation worker to $112,000 per year for design engineering managers in alternative energy, according to Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis at PayScale.

All the jobs PayScale found were “very reasonably paid,” Mr. Lee said, adding that several entry-level positions – including jobs as solar-energy system installers and solar fabrication technicians – only require high school or associate’s degrees and pay more than $40,000 annually.

Professionals also can obtain clean-tech jobs as the article notes that most of the jobs employ those with bachelor’s degrees and a third tend to be engineers.