Jobs

Right now, there are well over a million Americans working in the clean and renewable energy industry. Whether they are construction workers building a solar plant, auto workers assembling a hybrid vehicle, manufacturing plant workers turning out hydropower components, electricians wiring a LEED-certified building, or entrepreneurial veterans bringing ideas from the battlefield to the homefront – they are real Americans doing real jobs. And their numbers are growing.

Key Stats

  • 110,000: New clean energy jobs announced in 2012. California was the top state for new green jobs, with North Carolina a close second. (Source: Environmental Entrepreneurs, http://bit.ly/Xqspz3)
  • 720,000: Number of jobs created by the clean energy provisions in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Source: Resources For The Future, http://bit.ly/VaZ8tg)
  • 2.7 million: Number of Americans employed by the clean energy industry. (Source: Brookings Institute, http://bit.ly/X4jXUb)
  • 46,000: Total number of U.S. jobs associated with new clean energy projects announced in Q1 2012. (Source: Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), http://bit.ly/I8Biol)
  • 661,000: Number of jobs supported by the growing green building sector – one-third of the U.S. design and construction workforce. (Source: McGraw Hill, http://bit.ly/M2ayEp)
  • 401,600: Number of American jobs supported by the ethanol industry in 2011. (Source: Renewable Fuels Association, http://bit.ly/xA7FWy)
  • 155,000: Americans employed by suppliers of clean and efficient vehicle components in 2011. (Source: NRDC/NWF/UAW, http://bit.ly/q0i8kI)
  • 43,000 to 66,000: Number of jobs in the manufacturing and associated supply-chain sectors supported every year by the DOE Section 1603 program from 2009-2011. (Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, http://1.usa.gov/Idmhyt)
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Resources

2012 Clean Energy Jobs Year-in-Review and Fourth Quarter Report

— Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), March 2013, http://bit.ly/Xqspz3

Renewable Energy Industries’ Contribution to the North Dakota Economy

— North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy, January 2013, http://bit.ly/VvEelG

The Impact of Wind Development on County-Level Income and Employment: A Review of Methods and an Empirical Analysis

— National Renewable Energy Laboratory, September 2012, http://1.usa.gov/U6bS2m

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Quotes

“The wind power movement is providing us with a unique opportunity to advance energy as industry,”

— New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R), http://bit.ly/LgV8wU

“We cannot overlook the impact of the wind industry on economic development and jobs in Iowa,”

— Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (R), http://bit.ly/p7U1Qt

“Green jobs are already an important part of the construction labor workforce, and signs are that they will become industry standard.”

— Harvey Bernstein, vice president, Industry Insights and Alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction, http://bit.ly/M2ayEp

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