The Clean Economy Hits Pay Dirt, with More U.S. Jobs than Fossil Fuel Firms

The “green” or “clean” or low-carbon economy—defined as the sector of the economy that produces goods and services with an environmental benefit—now employs some 2.7 million U.S. workers, based on a study by the Metropolitan Policy Program team at Brookings Institution, conducted in cooperation with Battelle’s Technology Partnership Practice.

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Battelle, is the world’s largest, independent research and development organization, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Although relatively modest in size, the clean economy now employs more workers than the fossil fuel industry, according to the study, Sizing the Clean Economy: A Green Jobs Assessment. And not only are they more plentiful, but “green-collar jobs” pay better than “conventional” employment—offering higher salaries to low- and somewhat-skilled workers than the national economy as a whole.

City-dwellers in the South get most of the environmental jobs—usually through expansion of mature segments, from manufacturing to public services. Fully one-quarter of green-collar jobs are in manufacturing—producing commodities such as electric cars and LED lighting—compared to 9 percent for the rest of the U.S. job market.

A smaller, fast-growing slice of the green economy encompasses energy-related innovations, including the solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, fuel cell, smart grid, biofuel, and battery industries. In addition, while the South has the most jobs by actual number, the West has the most jobs relative to population.

While the clean economy permeates all of the nation’s metropolitan areas, it manifests itself in four basic configurations: service-oriented, manufacturing, public sector, and balanced:

• New York City, through mass transit, embodies a service orientation; as does San Francisco, through professional services; and Las Vegas, through architectural services.
• Many Midwestern and Southern metro areas—like Louisville; Cleveland; Greenville, South Carolina; and Little Rock (plus San Jose, in the West)—host clean economies that are heavily manufacturing-oriented.
• State capitals have a disproportionate share of clean jobs in the public sector —among them, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Sacramento, California; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Springfield, Illinois.
• Finally, some metro areas—including Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Portland, and Los Angeles— balance multi-dimensional clean economies.

To encourage continued growth and job creation in the green sector, the report suggests that Congress and the federal government could put a price on carbon, pass a national clean energy standard, become a major purchaser of green goods, and create a funding mechanism that helps bypass the commercialization “Valley of Death.”

At the same time, the report proposes, Congress should continue its recent institutional experimentation through measured expansion of recent start-ups , such as the Energy Frontier Research Centers, ARPA-E, and Energy Innovation Hubs programs.

States can adopt or strengthen their own clean energy standards, reduce the initial costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption, and pursue electricity market reform to facilitate the use of clean and efficient solutions. And localities can also support adoption by expediting permitting for green projects, adopting green building and other standards, and adopting innovative financing tools to reduce the upfront costs of investing in clean technologies.

For more information, visit the Brookings Institution website.