WASHINGTON — A new report from the nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) revealed that more than 18,000 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in more than 20 states in the third quarter of 2014, a significant uptick from both the previous quarter and a year ago.
Tesla Motors’ announcement of its massive new “gigafactory” for the production of electric car batteries near Reno, Nevada, propelled the Silver State to the top spot in the state rankings for the first time with more than 6,500 jobs announced. Rounding out the Top 10 states were: New York, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Texas. Illinois and Maryland tied for the 10th spot.
In the previous quarter, E2 tracked more than 12,000 announced jobs. Nearly 15,000 jobs were announced in the third quarter of 2013.
Coming just two days after the midterm elections, the report demonstrated that clean energy knows no political boundaries. According to E2’s analysis, both Republican and Democratic congressional districts benefitted almost equally from clean energy job announcements in the quarter. At least 9,095 jobs were announced in Republican congressional districts, compared with 7,690 jobs announced in districts represented by Democrats. About 1,250 job announcements spanned both Republican and Democratic districts.
“The election is over. Now, it’s time to live up to the stump-speech promises,” said Bob Keefe, executive director, E2. “One easy way to create jobs and drive economic growth in both red and blue states is moving quickly to extend clean energy and energy-efficiency tax incentives and other smart policies. We’ve learned what happens when our elected officials do nothing: American workers get kicked to the street at a time when every job counts.”
E2’s Clean Energy Works for Us jobs report, now in its third year, shows the power and the potential Congress has for creating clean energy jobs through smart policies. The expiration of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for the wind industry, for example, dealt a major blow to wind industry employment. To avoid more massive job losses, Congress can quickly move forward in a bipartisan fashion to extend the PTC and other tax policies driving growth in renewable energy and energy efficiency. These incentives have been critical to creating good jobs in both red and blue states. If Congress fails to renew these policies, there could be a negative impact on clean energy jobs in America.
The complete report and state-by-state breakdowns of every job announcement E2 tracked are available at www.cleanenergyworksforus.org.
Publication date: 12/15/2014
Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!
