Clean energy jobs grew more than three times faster than the rest of the US economy last year, according to a report out from the nonpartisan business group E2.
The sector added almost 100,000 new jobs, bringing total number of clean energy workers in the US to 3.56 million, according to the tenth annual Clean Jobs America report.
Job growth in the sector was at its slowest pace since 2020, however.
E2 executive director Bob Keefe said: “What these numbers show is that this was one of the hottest and most promising job sectors in the country at the end of 2024.
“Now, clean energy job growth is at serious risk – and with it, our overall economy.”
The report added that clean energy employment accounted for more than seven percent of all new jobs added in the country and 82% of new energy jobs.
More than 520,000 jobs have now been added by the clean energy and clean vehicle sectors over the last five years, an increase of 17 percent-far exceeding employment gains in fossil fuels, gas and diesel motor vehicles, and the overall U.S. economy, E2 said.
“The strength of the U.S. job market and the future of our energy economy are now inseparable from the growth of clean energy,” E2 director of research and publications Michael Timberlake said.
The American South added more clean energy jobs than any other region, and at a faster rate, according to the report. Southern states added 41,000 clean energy jobs in 2024, while Western and Northeastern states added more than 20,000 jobs respectively.