Recent Research: Clean Energy Job Growth Outpacing Overall Employment

A new Pew Charitable Trusts report finds far-reaching national benefits to the growth of the clean energy sector. Between 1998 and 2007, clean energy jobs grew by 9.1 percent, while total jobs grew by only 3.7 percent according to data collected by Pew. While the industry is still in infancy, its growth rate over the past decade has outpaced other emerging technology sectors that have been the focus of TBED efforts, including biotechnology.

The Pew report addresses the challenge of defining what the clean energy economy is and what types of jobs can be categorized as green jobs. They define the clean energy economy as being comprised of five categories:

• Clean energy - jobs, businesses and investments that help to produce, transmit and store energy from renewable sources;
• Energy efficiency - activities that help to reduce consumption;
• Environmentally-friendly production - those jobs and companies that mitigate harmful environmental impacts;
• Conservation and pollution mitigation - helps to manage emission and natural resources more effectively; and,
• Training and support - serves as a support mechanism across all of the other categories to help build the clean energy workforce and perpetuate the growth of the sector.

Pew uses this framework to evaluate the growth of the clean energy economy nationally and by state. In 2007, there were 68,203 clean energy businesses and 770,386 clean energy jobs in the U.S., according to the Pew data. California had the highest number of jobs with 125,390 and had the highest clean energy employment as a share of overall employment. California also leads the nation in clean energy venture capital investment and clean technology patents.

Job growth between 1998 and 2007, however, was dominated by smaller states. Clean energy jobs in Idaho grew by 126.1 percent during that period. Other leading states for clean energy job growth include Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, New Mexico, Hawaii and South Carolina.

The report identifies Oregon, Colorado and Tennessee as states with a large number of clean energy jobs and a high average annual rate of growth. Oregon has had success in creating energy efficiency jobs, driving its growth over the past decade. Colorado is singled out for its achievements in building clean energy jobs in wind- and solar-powered energy generation. Three-quarters of Tennessee's clean energy economy jobs are in conservation and pollution mitigation, including recycling, waste treatment and water management.

The authors conclude that there is a need for a comprehensive, nationwide effort to support the clean energy economy in order to maximize its benefits. They cite the American Clean Energy and Security Act, currently under consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives, as a first step in creating such a plan.

Read "The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments across America" at: http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Clean_Economy_Report_Web.pdf