A recent study has highlighted that jobs in the clean energy sector, including solar and wind industries, expanded three times faster than the overall U.S. workforce in 2024, with an addition of 100,000 jobs, marking a 2.8% growth. This increase brought total employment in clean energy to over 3.5 million, according to environmental advocacy group E2. States like Idaho, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, and New Jersey experienced the highest growth in clean energy jobs. The report indicates that over 80% of all new energy sector jobs created last year were in clean energy, pointing to it as a robust employment sector.
E2 Executive Director Bob Keefe expressed concern that the promising growth of clean energy jobs is now at serious risk due to policies enacted by the Trump administration, which have sought to undermine federal support for renewables in favor of fossil fuels. The analysis encompasses various industries, including renewable electricity generation, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency, but does not reflect changes in U.S. policy since Trump’s inauguration. Notably, the clean energy workforce now surpasses that of oil, gas, and coal combined by a ratio of three to one.
The report also identifies California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Massachusetts as states with the most jobs in wind and solar sectors. Energy efficiency jobs, which involve installing efficient systems and manufacturing certified appliances, account for nearly 2.4 million positions within the sector.