As the California Air Resources Board considers the Advanced Clean Trucks rule to bring clean trucks to market at the scale necessary to help California meet its 2030 emission reduction target and achieve its goal of carbon-neutrality by 2045, 268 California private sector leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and other business professionals signed onto this E2 letter […]
Clean Energy Unemployment Claims in COVID-19 Aftermath, April 2020Nearly 600,000 U.S. clean clean energy workers have lost their jobs since March after 447,208 new workers filed unemployment claims in April, according to the latest analysis of unemployment data by BW Research for E2, E4TheFuture, and the American Council on Renewable Energy.
The analysis of Department of Labor data found that 594,347 workers in clean energy occupations, representing 17.8% of the industry’s workforce, filed for unemployment benefits in April and March. The number of jobs lost is more than double the number of clean energy jobs created since 2017. Before March, clean energy had been one of the U.S. economy’s biggest and fastest-growing employment sectors, growing 10.4% since 2015 to 3.4 million jobs at the end of 2019. That made clean energy by far the biggest employer of workers in all energy occupations, employing nearly three times as many people as the fossil fuel industry.
The job losses are across a wide variety of occupations, and in every state. Energy efficiency workers are losing their jobs after being shut out of homes and buildings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Solar and wind turbine companies are laying off workers as they’re unable to access panels and parts stranded in shut-down factories and as financing disappears. Factory workers are being let go as assembly lines for Energy Star appliances and electric and hybrid vehicles are ground to a halt.
| Sector | March Claims (adj*) | April Claims | Total Claims |
| Energy Efficiency | 103,298 | 310,188 | 413,486 |
| Renewables | 23,739 | 71,835 | 95,574 |
| Clean Vehicles | 11,339 | 35,101 | 46,501 |
| Grid & Storage | 6,517 | 19,685 | 26,202 |
| Clean Fuels | 2,186 | 10,398 | 12,584 |
| INDUSTRY TOTAL | 147,139 | 447,208 | 594,347 |
| State | March Claims (adj.*) | April Claims | Total Claims |
| US TOTAL | 147,139 | 447,208 | 594,347 |
| California | 27,583 | 77,860 | 105,443 |
| Texas | 5,965 | 25,227 | 31,192 |
| Michigan | 7,867 | 22,284 | 30,150 |
| Florida | 3,963 | 25,915 | 29,878 |
| Georgia | 1,909 | 25,251 | 27,161 |
| North Carolina | 9,124 | 17,293 | 26,417 |
| Pennsylvania | 8,283 | 12,810 | 21,093 |
| New York | 6,006 | 14,398 | 20,405 |
| Washington | 5,646 | 14,593 | 20,239 |
| Ohio | 6,929 | 12,869 | 19,798 |
For a full breakdown of clean energy jobs losses in each state, see the full analysis here.
The complete report is available for download at this link.
A live press conference was held announcing the report’s findings on May 13, featuring:
To download and listen to the one-hour press conference, click here.
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 2020 and 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.
If you are looking for additional insight into this report or E2’s more than a dozen other annual clean energy employment reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]).
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On March 10, just before the COVID-19 crisis swept across the country, Oregon Governor Kate Brown made climate action history. By signing an ambitious and far-reaching executive order, Governor Brown positioned Oregon to reduce the emissions driving climate change from a broad range of sources across the Oregon economy while priming the state’s clean energy economy for […]
More than 106,000 clean energy workers lost their jobs in the month of March alone, wiping out all the job gains in renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles and other clean energy sectors in 2019, according to an analysis of unemployment data by BW Research for E2.
The March layoffs were just the first indication of how badly the clean energy industry has been hit by the COVID-19 and economic crises. Much bigger job cuts are expected in the months ahead—making it imperative that Congress and state lawmakers seek ways to get the industry back on its feet, especially since clean energy has a proven history of helping pull the country out of economic crises.
What had been one the nation’s fastest-growing jobs sectors at the start of the year by March was experiencing significant job losses every week.
The job losses are across a wide variety of occupations, and in every state. Energy efficiency workers are losing their jobs after being shut out of homes and buildings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Solar and wind turbine companies are laying off workers as they’re unable to access panels and parts stranded in shut-down factories and as financing disappears. Factory workers are being let go as assembly lines for Energy Star appliances and electric and hybrid vehicles are ground to a halt.
The complete report is available for download at this link.
A live press conference was held announcing the report’s findings on April 15, featuring:
To download and listen to the one-hour press conference, click here.
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 2020 and 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.
If you are looking for additional insight into this report or E2’s more than a dozen other annual clean energy employment reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]).
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Now, through a fellowship from the organization E2 (Environmental Entrepreneuers), Deylami will help dealers learn more about and promote electric vehicles. E2, an organization of investors and business leaders promoting smart energy policies, awarded 10 $20,000 fellowships to young U.S. business leaders nationwide. The only other Midwest recipient is Grant Behnke of Columbus, Ohio, who […]
Rollback threatens 740,000 US jobs in cleaner, fuel-efficient vehicles WASHINGTON, DC (March 31, 2020) – The Trump administration today finalized its plan to roll back the popular Obama-era fuel economy standards, reversing the federal government’s largest effort to fight climate change impacts. Following is a statement from Sandra Purohit, director of federal advocacy for the […]
Join key policymakers and decision makers from around Nevada to discuss the benefits of transportation electrification, as well as the concrete policies and actions needed to achieve these benefits for all Nevadans.
California’s fight against the Trump administration’s plans to roll back commonsense auto emissions and mileage standards may seem surprising to some who live beyond our state’s borders — but only if you ignore that the clean cars bill we passed in 2002 has been, simply put, a major success for California.
Clean Energy Economy Integral to Evergreen StateClean energy is increasingly integral to Washington’s economic growth, as more than five out of every ten jobs in the Evergreen State’s energy economy are now in clean energy industries.
Led by energy efficiency (63K) and renewable energy (11K), Washington’s clean energy economy—now ranked 14th among all 50 states with nearly 84,000 workers—is providing new job opportunities in every metro area, county, and legislative district.While Washington State ranks among the top 15 states for employment in most clean energy categories, its clean energy economy has ample room to grow. In fact, when compared to its west coast neighbors, Washington’s clean energy employment per capita lags behind Oregon and California.
However, by passing a suite of smart, ambitious policies in 2019, the state has made important strides to improve its competitiveness with California and the growing clean economies in the Midwest and Northeast. Paramount among the policy successes in 2019 was the passage of a hallmark 100 percent clean electricity bill (SB 5116).
But significant work remains if Washington State is to realize its full potential and become a true national front-runner in America’s burgeoning clean energy economy. To lead in a rapidly shifting energy market, Washington’s legislature should pass strong measures to cut carbon across all sectors of its economy in the coming legislative sessions, including authorizing a zero-emission vehicle program, a low carbon fuel standard, and an economy-wide cap-and-invest carbon pricing program.
This report focuses solely on the energy sector of the economy and does not include jobs in retail trade, repair services, water or waste management, and indirect employment or induced employment.
Washington ranks among the top 15 states for employment in 10 clean energy categories.
According to Clean Jobs Washington 2019:
The complete report is available for download at this link.
U.S. Energy & Employment Report (USEER)
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 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 fourth 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 California 2019 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.
Other E2 Clean Jobs Reports
Clean Jobs Washington is only one in a series of state and industry reports produced by E2 and our partners.
Governor Sisolak issued Executive Order 2019-22 on Friday, November 21, 2019, committing to reduce carbon pollution in Nevada and work toward an equitable and inclusive transition to a carbon neutral, clean energy economy. In his speech following the signing of the executive order, Governor Sisolak announced that Nevada intends to join the 11 other states in the […]
On October 23, The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) opened a proceeding to gather input from stakeholders on what information would be useful for electric utilities to include in upcoming proposals to support transportation electrification.In this letter, E2 members and supporters urge the PUC to act boldly to increase access to electricity as a transportation fuel while ensuring reliability […]
WHEN Wednesday, November 6, 2019 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, with program beginning at 6:30PM WHAT California’s transportation sector is responsible for over 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and emits more climate pollution than any other sector of the economy. While California has made tremendous progress in meeting our GHG reduction […]