According to a report released by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) there were 58 clean energy and clean transportation projects announced during the second quarter of 2013. These projects could create as many as 38,600 new jobs. A new website has been launched – Clean Energy Works for US – keeps track of jobs in the solar, wind, biofuel, energy efficiency and transportation sectors.
Cleanenergyworksforus.org includes more than 500 clean energy and clean transportation job announcements taken from company announcements, media reports and other sources that E2 has tracked since September 2011. The site also includes more than 50 stories, 20 videos and state-specific statistics that put a face on clean energy job growth in America.
“With Labor Day upon us and the country focused on jobs and the economy, clean energy and clean transportation projects continue to create jobs and drive economic growth from one end of the country to the other,” said E2 Executive Director Judith Albert.
The Q2 2013 clean jobs total number is slightly higher than the 37,400 jobs that E2 tracked in the comparable quarter in 2012. For the first time, both Hawaii and Alaska ranked in the top 10 states to announce clean energy projects in the second quarter of 2013.
Two newcomers were among the top five states for clean energy jobs announcements in the second quarter. Hawaii ranked second in total clean energy and clean transportation jobs announced, while Maryland came in third place with the announcement of a $2.6 billion, 20-station, and 14-mile expansion to the Baltimore light-rail system’s Red Line. The project will reduce carbon pollution as well as traffic, and will require more than 4,200 construction workers to lay new tracks and build new stations by 2021.
In another first for a quarterly E2 report, Kansas and Missouri each made the Top 10 list of states to announce clean energy projects. Leading the way, Clean Line Energy Partners LLC announced the “Grain Belt Express Clean Line” transmission line upgrade project that will transmit more than 3,500 megawatts of wind energy from Kansas and Missouri to other states. The $2 billion project is scheduled for completion by 2018 and is expected to create 5,500 jobs to plan, construct and manage the new line.
California again ranked No.1 in total job announcements. The state led the way with 12 clean energy and clean transportation projects that could cumulatively create more than 9,000 jobs.
“Clean energy jobs are alive, well and growing,” Albert said. “Smart policies like renewable energy standards at the state level, coupled with federal policies like President Obama’s climate change initiative, promise to keep that growth going.”