It’s a sobering image: Well-dressed people, standing patiently in long lines while they wait for any prospect of a job. For most, the image is only a picture, a page in the history of the Great Depression.

Although the unemployment rate in the U.S. has not reached that level, the patient desperation of those who are out of work is evident all around us. California ranks 49th highest in unemployment at 12.4 percent, with San Joaquin County even further back in the line at 17.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Those tracking trends look at future housing starts as a sign to predict when we will be out of this recession — which is ludicrous, really. We don’t need more housing right now — or more single-family suburban sprawl — with rates of foreclosure on the rise.

What we need is a smarter model that says we have learned from our excesses and won’t repeat our mistakes. At the moment, the engine that could is in the “green job” sector.

While traditional jobs have shrunk by 1 percent in each of the past four years, the green jobs sector continues to expand by 5 percent a year.

But ask anyone what a green job is, and you’re likely to get a pause. Those who are prejudiced about environmentalism — those who believe anything “green” gets in the way of business — should become educated about what green jobs really are: A retooling of traditional engineering, manufacturing and construction jobs.

According to the Employment Development Department, green jobs are those jobs that produce goods and services in the five categories that spell out “GREEN”: Generating and storing renewable energy; Recycling existing materials; Energy efficiency product manufacturing, distribution, construction, installation and maintenance; Education, compliance and awareness of the green sector; and Natural and sustainable product manufacturing.

The U.S. Green Building Council forecasts that green construction will support more than 7.9 million jobs in the next four years. Examples of green job growth are all around us. Telsa bought the shuttered General Motors-Toyota NUMMI plant in Fremont to build electric cars; Electric Vehicles International relocated from Mexico in 2009 to build commercial-grade electric vehicles in Stockton; Solar Power will open a factory to build solar panels in Roseville run by its own solar panel plant.

Green jobs aren’t reinventing the wheel, but instead are taking traditional roles and expanding the knowledge of capable engineers and technicians into more sustainable areas.

The byproduct? We will have a smarter workforce creating a more sustainable world. We will be less dependent on foreign oil, toxic energy production and show more respect for our natural resources like water and the land that grows our food. That’s the economy we want.

• For a change: Buy sustainable. Support the local economy.

• To make a difference: Visit the EDD website, www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov, for full information about the green jobs sector. Look under the “labor market” tab, and scroll to the bottom for a link to “understanding the green economy.”

• To make a stand: Educate yourself in the green jobs sector. Pacific Gas and Electric Co offers free classes, which can be signed up for through www.pge.com/pec under the heading “classes and seminars.” Worknet of San Joaquin County offers on-the-job training and employer reimbursement, which can be accessed through www.sjcworknet.org. California also has a clean energy workforce training program, which can be found through www.energy.ca.gov/greenjobs.

• Christina D.B. Frankel is a 20-year Tracy resident, architect and mother of three. Her column, Living Green, runs every so often in the Tracy Press. She can be reached at cdfrankel@sbcglobal.net.