Last year CNBC put out an article about green economy and jobs facts. Earlier this year, green jobs in the United States were measured for the first time. Today’s facts are a bit dated, but given the discussion of the economy, jobs, and clean energy, it is still pertinent.
- Twenty-nine states have ordered their utilities to produce up to 30 percent of power through renewable energy in the next couple decades.
- The federal economic stimulus plan earmarked more than $70 billion in direct spending, tax breaks and loan guarantees for the nation’s energy economy, most of it for “green” energy.
- More than $500 million of stimulus money for education is targeted for green job training.
- Industry forecaster IHS Global Insight, in a report prepared for the U.S. Mayors Conference estimates a potential for 4.2 million new green jobs over the next 30 years.
- The industry sector devoted to weatherization and energy efficiency alone will grow as much as fourfold in the next decade, to some 1.3 million people, according to a March 2010 report done by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and financed by the Department of Energy.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
