Nearly 3.5 million people in the United States now work in the clean energy sector, according to a new report, with more than 1 million of those jobs in states across the South.
The report, released Tuesday by the nonpartisan business group E2, found an uptick in employment in the clean energy industry in 2023, fueled by the Inflation Reduction Act. The sweeping 2022 law included hundreds of billions of dollars to spur emissions cuts and help the U.S. economy transition away from fossil fuels to fight climate change.
Clean energy and clean vehicle companies added nearly 150,000 new jobs in 2023, the first full year of the Inflation Reduction Act, the report found. Of that total, the South added more than 54,000 clean energy jobs, accounting for 36% of all new jobs in the region.
By comparison, the Midwest, Northeast and West combined added 95,000 clean energy jobs in 2023.
The law, known as IRA, has become a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s environmental record, and in her campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris has touted her tie-breaking vote to pass the legislation in the Senate.
The employment sectors analyzed in E2’s “Clean Jobs America” report include clean vehicles, renewable energy, battery storage, grid modernization and biofuels.
The findings suggest that Southern states, where Republicans traditionally have a political stronghold, are benefitting from the IRA, even though Republicans in the House and Senate unanimously opposed the bill.
The report found that Alabama, Kentucky and Oklahoma were among the states with the fastest growth in clean energy jobs, based on percentage increases.
California, Florida and Texas — the three most populous states — led in the total number of jobs in the clean energy industry, E2 found.
Across the U.S., clean energy jobs grew by roughly 4.5% last year, far more than the country’s overall job growth rate of 1.5%, according to the report. Clean energy jobs now account for about 1 in 16 new jobs created in the U.S.
E2 has released annual reports on clean energy job growth in the U.S. since 2015.
Given the timing of this year’s report, the findings may have implications for the presidential election in November.
Donald Trump has pledged to “rescind all unspent funds” under the Inflation Reduction Act if he wins the presidency, a move he has said could help combat inflation. Harris, meanwhile, has pointed to the act as a key example of the Biden administration’s job creation.
Harris called the legislation “historic” and “transformational” in a statement in August marking the IRA’s second anniversary.
Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, said the report shows the potential for further growth in the clean energy sector.
“We’re just getting started,” he said in a statement. “The biggest threats to this unprecedented progress are misguided efforts to repeal or rollback parts of the IRA, despite the law’s clear benefits both to American workers and the communities where they live.”
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