Smart Climate Policies Drive Clean Energy Boom, Creating Jobs and Investments Across the United States

The United States is experiencing the early stages of a clean energy boom, leading to increased investments and job opportunities throughout the country. This remarkable growth can be attributed to smart climate policies implemented by the government.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's 2023 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), the country witnessed the creation of nearly 300,000 new energy jobs in 2022. Of these, approximately 114,000 jobs were in the field of clean energy technologies such as renewables and zero-emission vehicles. Furthermore, the clean energy sector experienced a 3.9% growth compared to 2021, surpassing the overall nationwide job growth rate of 3.1% during the same period.

One of the key advantages of clean energy jobs is that they offer higher wages than the national average and are accessible to workers without four-year degrees, making them available to a majority of Americans. Previous research conducted by the Brookings Institution revealed that clean energy jobs can lead to an income increase of 8% to 19%. Interestingly, 45% of workers in clean energy production possess only a high school diploma, yet they earn higher wages than their counterparts in other industries with similar levels of education.

These findings align with Energy Innovation's predictions regarding clean energy job and GDP growth, as well as consumer savings in Red and Purple states like Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia, thanks to the implementation of IRA clean energy tax credits. By 2030, it is projected that these policies will result in significant job and economic growth, accompanied by billions of dollars in savings for consumers.

Moreover, since the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022, over $240 billion in new clean energy investments have been announced, as reported by the American Clean Power (ACP). Remarkably, this amount is equivalent to the total clean power investment in the United States between 2016 and 2022. These investments will contribute to an additional 163 gigawatts of clean generation capacity, almost doubling the nation's total clean power generation to over 396 GW.

Thanks to smart policies and the continuous decline in technology costs, this economic boom shows no signs of slowing down. The long-term policy certainty established by the IRA provisions and the CHIPS and Science Act has led to the onshoring of manufacturing, resulting in $227 billion in new investments across 116 manufacturing projects since August 2022, which in turn will create more than 83,000 jobs.

It is important to note that a clean economy is synonymous with a thriving economy. Clean energy investments have proven to generate new jobs and attract fresh investments in every state, regardless of their political affiliations. The USEER report of 2023 revealed that California, with 13,000 new jobs, West Virginia with 7,000 new jobs, and Texas with 5,100 new jobs, were the top three states in terms of clean energy job growth.