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.
Newly passed bill is type of policy California “needs to help its economic recovery” SACRAMENTO (September 1, 2020) – Late Monday night, the California legislature passed AB 841, a bill that swill streamline millions in investments to expand California’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and make improvements to school energy efficiency upgrades. Following is a […]
Clean Energy Unemployment Claims in COVID-19 Aftermath, July 2020
<< The July unemployment analysis was revised up to 10,400 on September 11, 2020 and is available here >>
The U.S. clean energy sector added just 3,200 jobs in July, signaling the sector’s surge of workers returning in June was short-lived, according to the latest analysis of unemployment data by BW Research for E2, E4TheFuture, and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).
The 0.1% increase in jobs still leaves over half a million (511,075) clean energy workers out of work despite nationwide re-openings – about 15 percent of the sector’s workforce before the COVID-19 outbreak. While July represents the second straight month of job growth for the industry after three months of devastating job losses, fewer than 10 states saw 100-plus clean energy employees return to work and at the current pace it would take nearly 15 years for the U.S. clean energy sector to reach pre-COVID-19 employment levels.
The new analysis also does little to alleviate long-term concerns for the industry. In addition to continued high unemployment, casual or paused re-openings, and the exhaustion of many programs from earlier stimulus, long-term and permanent unemployment has risen sharply to more than 4.4 million as initial weekly unemployment claims continue at historic pace.
Only one out of every six clean energy jobs lost since March returned in June and July, and as federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds are exhausted and states are forced to close businesses again in the face of COVID-19’s resurgence, more layoffs could be imminent without congressional action.
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.
| SECTOR | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | TOTAL |
| Energy Efficiency | -103,298 | -309,584 | -18,880 | 71,786 | 2,105 | -357,871 |
| Renewables | -23,739 | -71,705 | -4,272 | 17,287 | 591 | –81,840 |
| Clean Vehicles | -11,399 | -35,070 | -2,059 | 10,335 | 276 | -37,917 |
| Grid & Storage | -6,517 | -19,666 | -1,166 | 4,561 | 132 | -22,656 |
| Clean Fuels | -2,186 | -10,390 | -657 | 2,351 | 91 | -10,791 |
| INDUSTRY TOTAL | -147,139 | -446,416 | -27,035 | 106,320 | 3,195 | -511,075 |
| STATE | TOTAL CLAIMS | Percent of Pre-COVID19 Workforce Unemployed |
| California | 89,158 | 16.60% |
| Georgia | 27,316 | 32.60% |
| Florida | 26,521 | 16.00% |
| Texas | 24,659 | 10.20% |
| Michigan | 24,525 | 19.60% |
| North Carolina | 21,214 | 18.80% |
| Pennsylvania | 18,866 | 20.10% |
| Washington | 18,444 | 21.70% |
| New York | 17,239 | 10.80% |
For a full breakdown of clean energy jobs losses in each state, download the full analysis 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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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 […]
PFAS Standards are good for state’s environment and economy, Michigan business leaders say LANSING (July 23, 2020) – With the completion of its yearlong rulemaking process, Michigan is now regulating seven PFAS chemicals, making Michigan a national leader of states protecting public drinking water from “toxic forever” chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – or […]
WASHINGTON – Today the President will discuss finalizing rollbacks to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that, among other things, are expected to enable agencies to purposely ignore the economic and social costs of climate impacts from major government-approved projects. The changes to the landmark bipartisan 50-year-old law are also expected to give the administration […]
Clean Energy Unemployment Claims in COVID-19 Aftermath, June 2020The U.S. clean energy sector added 106,320 jobs in June, leaving over half a million (514,270) clean energy workers out of work despite nationwide re-openings. Despite the gains in June, there remains a nearly 15 percent decline over pre-COVID-19 employment levels, according to the latest analysis of unemployment data by BW Research for E2, E4TheFuture, and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).
In all, clean energy employment is still down 15 percent from the start of the year, when nearly 3.4 million Americans worked in renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles and fuels and other clean energy sectors.
While the June jobs improvement is an encouraging sign of clean energy’s ability to quickly put Americans back to work, resuming a robust recovery in one of the nation’s biggest employment sectors anytime soon remains unlikely without direct action by Congress. Only one out of every six clean energy jobs lost since March returned in June, and as federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds are exhausted and states are forced to close businesses again in the face of COVID-19’s resurgence, more layoffs could be imminent without congressional action. According to the analysis, as many as 2.3 million clean energy workers are employed by small businesses that received PPP loans.
Other troubling trends include a sharp increase in permanent job losses, rising initial weekly unemployment claims, and COVID-19 cases spiking in states with some of the largest clean energy workforces, according to the analysis.
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.
| SECTOR | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | TOTAL |
| Energy Efficiency | -103,298 | -309,584 | -18,880 | +71,786 | -359,976 |
| Renewables | -23,739 | -71,705 | -4,272 | +17,287 | -82,429 |
| Clean Vehicles | -11,399 | -35,070 | -2,059 | +10,335 | -38,193 |
| Grid & Storage | -6,517 | -19,666 | -1,166 | +4,561 | -22,788 |
| Clean Fuels | -2,186 | -10,390 | -657 | +2,351 | -10,882 |
| INDUSTRY TOTAL | -147,139 | -446,416 | -27,035 | +106,320 | -514,270 |
| State | March | April | May | June | Total Claims |
| US TOTAL | -147,139 | -446,416 | -27,035 | +106,320 | -514,270 |
| California | -27,583 | -77,815 | -4,313 | +19,831 | -89,881 |
| Texas | -5,965 | -25,170 | -1,709 | +7,997 | -24,847 |
| Florida | -3,963 | -25,949 | -2,563 | +5,832 | -26,643 |
| Michigan | -7,867 | -22,245 | -1,012 | +6,465 | -31,124 |
| Georgia | -1,909 | -25,282 | -1,741 | +1,579 | -27,353 |
| North Carolina | -9,124 | -17,138 | -955 | +5,837 | -21,380 |
| Pennsylvania | -8,283 | -12,780 | -571 | +2,689 | -18,945 |
| Washington | -5,646 | -14,433 | -1,163 | +2,729 | -18,513 |
| New York | -6,006 | -13,868 | -848 | +3,314 | -17,408 |
| Ohio | -6,929 | -12,879 | -612 | +3,387 | -16,582 |
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.
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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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 […]