CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa -- The latest government numbers show Washington's unemployment rate is climbing, and with companies like Boeing and Washington Mutual threatening more layoffs, many -- including President-elect Barack Obama -- are looking for ways to get our economy back on track.

One plan involves harnessing a hot commodity our state is already capitalizing on: green-collar jobs.

The American Wind Energy Association ranks Washington fifth in the country for wind energy production, and our standing may go up.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for more turbines to be built east of Seattle in Kittitas County. In addition, NASA recently released satellite images showing that ocean winds off our coast could yield more jobs and more energy if wind farms are built offshore. However, wind companies like Gamesa Energy USA aren't holding their breath.

"I think the debate of offshore is a debate will take some time to resolve, if it ever does because of the tourism industry." said Gamesa spokesman Michael Peck.

The idea is already catching on all over the country, especially in small, blue-collar towns that are now seeing the benefits of a green-collar economy.

Almost 3000 miles east of Seattle, a factory in Ebensburg, Pa., is churning out a commodity so hot, there's a two-year waiting list.

SLIDESHOW: Green-collar growth

They're half-a-football-field long and they weigh 7 tons each. To those unfamiliar with them, they look like beached whales.

They're fiberglass wind turbine blades, and more than 270 employees at the Gamesa factory work around the clock meet the increased demand.

"I saw something that wouldn't be influenced by the economy so much," said employee Troy Galloway, who was laid off from a local steel mill 15 years ago. "Wind farms are pretty much long term."

A major problem, however, could slow the green-collar growth. As wind farms sprout up around the country, our aging electric infrastructure can't keep up. In other words, our power grid is like a two-lane road when what we need is a transmission superhighway.

Oil millionaire-turned-wind activist T. Boone Pickens told KIRO 7's Carol Han, "[Congress] needs to get to a solution, and you need to move! You need to start getting the power grid access to the wind corridor."

Experts say that as a whole, our Washington's electric infrastructure has room to grow and can connect to the new turbines sprouting up in our state; but around the big cities -- like Seattle -- bottlenecks are starting to form.

Wind advocates say unless they're cleared, Seattle may not get the second wind it needs to cash in on going green.