It’s Thursday, February 9, and the U.S. is getting tens of thousands of new clean energy jobs.
In the six months since President Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill became law last August, clean energy companies have announced more than 100,000 new jobs for electricians, mechanics, technicians, and other workers needed to wean the country off fossil fuels. That’s about enough jobs to employ the entire population of South Bend, Indiana.
The finding comes from a new report by the environmental group Climate Power, which analyzed public announcements from the private sector made between the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on August 16, 2022, and the end of January. It found more than 90 new clean energy projects have been announced across the United States, representing nearly $90 billion in new investments.
The U.S. is “at the precipice of a renewed manufacturing, made in America boom that will create opportunities for millions of Americans,” Climate Power’s executive director, Lori Lodes, said in a statement.
Many of the new projects identified by Climate Power involve electric vehicles and the batteries that make them run. These include a $1.7 billion investment from BMW to boost EV manufacturing in South Carolina, $3.6 billion to expand a Tesla gigafactory in Nevada, and a $4 billion Panasonic EV battery plant in Kansas. Other projects funnel billions of dollars into new and expanded facilities to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines or to make green hydrogen.
Climate Power attributes the boom in part to the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act. The group says the law represents “groundbreaking action” that will not only create jobs in renewable energy, but also help families save money and protect public health. By cutting air pollution, the law is projected to prevent up to 3,900 premature deaths and as many as 100,000 asthma attacks annually by 2030. Clean energy tax credits in the law are expected to shave some $1,800 a year off households’ energy costs.
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