Clean energy jobs are coming. Here’s how to make sure they’re good jobs

One way or another, these types of jobs are coming into existence. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, California had 537,000 clean energy workers, according to an analysis by the advocacy group Environmental Entrepreneurs. And that number is certain to rise as the state targets 100% climate-friendly electricity and a carbon-neutral economy by mid-century.

North Carolina Clean Economy Summit

Please join Gov. Roy Cooper, E2’s new Southeast Chapter, fellow business leaders and our partners for a first-of-its-kind virtual NC Clean Economy Summit to discuss how together we can build back a better, cleaner, more equitable and more resilient economy. You’ll be among the first to learn about Clean Jobs North Carolina 2020 – the latest, most comprehensive […]

House Infrastructure Bill Meets the “Severity of the Challenges” U.S. Faces; Clean Energy Stimulus Needed Next

Statement from Director of Federal Advocacy, Sandra Purohit WASHINGTON (July 1, 2020) – The House of Representatives today passed the “Moving Forward Act” (H.R. 2), a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that prioritizes clean energy to combat the looming threat of climate change and accelerates America’s economic recovery. The bill includes investments in clean energy, clean […]

Time is Now to Embrace Clean Energy, House Dems Climate Action Plan

WASHINGTON – The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis called on the need for investments in the clean energy economy, making it a focal point of the Committee’s Climate Crisis Action Plan released today. If enacted, the Plan would achieve net zero carbon emissions in the U.S. by 2050. Addressing climate change by unlocking […]

Clean Jobs Midwest 2020

Date: June 25, 2020

Home to 744,000 Clean Energy Jobs

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, clean energy companies employed more than 744,000 Midwesterners and clean energy jobs were growing in nearly every state, according to the latest available data. Across the region in 2019, the industry added more than 7,500 new jobs. At the end of 2019, more people in the Midwest worked in clean energy than the combined workforce of real estate agents and brokers, computer programmers, web developers, and waiters and waitresses. However, according to a recent analysis of U.S. Department of Labor unemployment data, in just the first three months after the pandemic began more than 131,600 workers in clean energy-related companies lost their jobs.

MIDWEST HIGHLIGHTS

  • Energy Efficiency – 534,567 jobs
  • Renewable Energy – 87,307 jobs
  • Grid & Storage – 26,251 jobs
  • Clean Vehicles – 87,993 jobs
  • Clean Fuels – 7,923 jobs
  • ALL Clean Energy Sectors – 744,041 jobs

OTHER KEY FINDINGS

The Midwest’s largest clean energy employer was energy efficiency. The sector has been home to more than 70 percent of all the region’s clean energy jobs. Last year, the Midwest also saw job growth rate increases in clean fuels (2.9 percent), grid and storage (3.4 percent), and renewable energy generation (2.7 percent).

Clean energy jobs are found in every corner of the region. While big cities like Chicago (88,930 jobs), Detroit (55,470 jobs), and Minneapolis (38,920 jobs) were some of the largest hubs for clean energy jobs, more than one in five — or more than 158,000 — were at the end of 2019 located in rural areas.

Thousands of Midwestern companies hire clean energy workers every year. Before the crisis hit, these employers anticipated adding nearly 37,000 clean energy jobs in 2020 — a nearly 5 percent growth rate.

DOWNLOAD

The complete report along with interactive breakdowns for all states is available at this link.

LOOKING FOR MORE INFO?

This report follows E2’s Clean Jobs America analysis which found the clean energy jobs account for nearly 3.3 million jobs across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Both reports expand on data from the 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), using data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership. E2 is a partner on the USEER, the fifth installment of the energy survey first released by the Department of Energy in 2016. Clean energy jobs have grown every year since the first report was released in 2016.

If you are looking for additional insight into E2’s Clean Jobs Midwest or our other Clean Jobs America reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]). An FAQ is also available here to answer any questions.

View Report »

Clean Jobs California 2020

Date: June 25, 2020

America’s Clean Energy Powerhouse in the Wake of COVID-19

After a fifth straight year of job growth since E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs) began tracking U.S. clean energy employment, California’s clean energy economy is facing a torrent of job losses and work freezes so significant it could set the industry back years. What had been one of the nation’s fastest-growing job sectors over the last five years is now one of the fastest-shrinking in the wake of COVID-19-related shutdowns disrupting supply chains and building energy efficiency projects, halting new developments and emptying project pipelines, and slowing investments while wrecking financial outlooks.

Entering 2020, California’s clean energy economy had grown for five straight years since this annual report was first released with clean energy jobs growing to make up 3 percent of the state’s entire workforce.

E2’s Clean Jobs California 2020 details the sheer size of this important employment sector, the troubles it is currently facing due to COVID-19 and how focusing recovery policies on clean energy can get the Golden State’s economy humming again—quickly and for the long run.

INDUSTRY JOB TOPLINES | Q4 2019

  • Energy Efficiency – 323,529 jobs
  • Renewable Energy –142,957 jobs
    • Solar Energy – 124,817 jobs
    • Wind Energy – 2,520 jobs
  • Clean Vehicles – 40,627 jobs
  • Clean Storage – 17,397 jobs
  • Grid Modernization – 6,625 jobs
  • ALL Clean Energy Sectors – 536,919 jobs

DOWNLOAD

The complete report is available for download at this link.

Looking for More Info?

The analysis expands on data from the 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), using data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership. The report was released in March 2020and is available at www.usenergyjobs.org. E2 is a partner on the USEER, the fifth installment of the energy survey first released by the Department of Energy in 2016 and subsequently abandoned under the Trump administration. Clean energy jobs have grown every year since the first report was released in 2016.

If you are looking for additional insight into E2’s Clean Jobs California 2020 or our other Clean Jobs America reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]). An FAQ is also available here to answer any questions.

PAST CLEAN JOBS AMERICA REPORTS

Clean Jobs America 2020 is the 3rd clean energy jobs report for California from E2. Previous reports can be accessed in the below links.

View Report »

America Has Lost 594,300 Clean Energy Jobs; 850,000 Expected by June 30

447,208 new unemployment filings in April, triple March claims CA, FL, GA, TX, MI, NC, WA, NY, OH among hardest hit states Energy efficiency job losses top 400,000; renewable job losses near 100,000 WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly 600,000 U.S. clean energy workers have lost their jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic after 447,208 […]

More than 100,000 clean-energy workers lost their jobs in March

“Lawmakers simply cannot ignore the millions of electricians, technicians and factory workers who work in clean energy as they consider ongoing economic recovery efforts,” said Keefe. “Imagine how quickly the White House would be moving if if about 50K coal workers and all those petroleum workers were suddenly out of a job”- @bkeefee2  

Over 106,000 workers in clean energy lost their jobs in March, and more layoffs are coming. Here’s why that matters.

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Bob Keefe

More than 106,000 clean energy industry workers lost their jobs in March alone. A half-million clean energy workers could be jobless in the months ahead if Congress and state lawmakers don’t step up and do more to support what has become one our nation’s biggest employment sectors. Of course, many Americans are struggling. Nearly 22 million […]

Here’s The Next Step to Repowering America’s Economy, Post-Coronavirus

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Bob Keefe

The $2 trillion stimulus package announced Wednesday by congressional leadership will send badly needed emergency checks to struggling American families and make loans available for businesses to stay afloat and protect jobs. With Americans from every corner of our economy out of work and struggling, it’s a much-needed lifeline. Now, lawmakers must quickly turn their […]

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