As North Carolina considers joining the multi-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to help achieve the power sector climate pollution reductions called for by Governor Roy Cooper in his Executive Order 80, 39 North Carolina executives, investors, entrepreneurs, and other business professionals signed onto this E2 letter in support of North Carolina joining the program.
“Both the Biden and Wyden plans would provide projects more assurances for financing” over the coming decade, said Sandra Purohit, director of federal advocacy for E2, a clean energy advocacy group. Projects that take longer to launch wouldn’t be at risk of losing out on incentives, which would translate into better terms for getting the […]
E2: Administration takes a “whole of economy” approach to climate action WASHINGTON (March 31, 2021) – President Biden will outline his plan for rebuilding America’s infrastructure in a speech later today in Pittsburgh. Biden’s American Jobs Plan will focus on how smart investments in priorities such as ensuring safe drinking water, modernizing the energy grid, […]
Harrisburg, P.A. – Pennsylvania will be making the single-largest solar procurement by a state government in the country, Governor Tom Wolf announced today. The block of solar power purchasing agreements will supply about 50% of the state government’s electricity demands, exceeding the commitment made in the governors’ 2019 executive order. The following is a statement […]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate voted to confirm former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, making her just the second woman to lead the department since its creation in 1977. As governor, Granholm helped steer Michigan’s economy toward clean energy and electric vehicles following the 2008 financial crisis, leading […]
RGGI is an important and effective tool for addressing climate change, reduce health impacts of air pollution and generating millions of dollars of annual proceeds from the sale of auctions to invest in programs that can save consumers money invest in cleaner, more energy efficient communities.
WASHINGTON – The U.S House is poised to pass the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, which includes the potential for funding increases to important energy efficiency programs; solar energy development for low-income communities; research in energy storage and provisions to address environmental justice issues. It also includes a phase-out of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a greenhouse […]
PA was home to 11th most clean energy jobs before COVID-19 Jobs in renewables grew 11.8% from 2017-2019 as natural gas employment dropped 10% 18,000 jobs lost since COVID-19, wiping out 19% of industry’s workforce Pittsburgh (September 23, 2020) – Led by strong growth in solar energy, grid modernization, and energy efficiency, Pennsylvania added more […]
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 […]
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 […]
Home to 744,000 Clean Energy JobsPrior 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.
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.
The complete report along with interactive breakdowns for all states is available at this link.
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.
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