A version of this article originally appeared on Climate Progress.
Photo by Roger Barone.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney begins a five-day bus tour today. He’ll cross six different states, focusing on economic issues and the “ordinary concerns of the American people.”
As he has throughout the campaign, Romney will likely talk about why he doesn’t believe that clean energy is good for the country. In recent months, the Romney campaign has attacked American renewable energy companies, lied about the clean energy stimulus, and called American green jobs “illusory” — even with 64,000 clean energy jobs in his home state of Massachusetts.
In fact, those jobs are far from illusory. In the six states that Romney plans to visit on his bus tour, there are nearly half a million green jobs across a diverse range of sectors like wind, solar, land conservation, green buildings, and waste-to-energy.
According to 2010 data compiled by the Brookings Institution, there are 418,512 green jobs in the states on Romney’s bus tour. Below is a breakdown of the number of jobs and wage figures as documented by Brookings:
- New Hampshire: Home to 12,886 green jobs. The annual median wage for a green collar worker in New Hampshire is $2,116 more than the median wage for a blue collar worker.
- Ohio: Home to 105,306 green jobs. The annual median wage for a green collar worker in Ohio is $3,566 more than the median wage for a blue collar worker.
- Pennsylvania: Home to 118,686 clean jobs. The annual median wage for a green collar worker in Pennsylvania is $2,327 more than the median wage for a blue collar worker.
- Wisconsin: Home to 76,858 clean jobs. The annual median wage for a green collar worker in Wisconsin is $2,025 more than the median wage for a blue collar worker.
- Iowa: Home to 30,835 clean jobs. The annual median wage for a green collar worker in Iowa is $2,399 more than the median wage for a blue collar worker.
- Michigan: Home to 76,941 clean jobs. The annual median wage for a green collar worker in Michigan is $2,564 more than the median wage for a blue collar worker.
As the Brookings Institution figures show, these jobs pay more, offer more export opportunities, and are growing at a much faster rate than the rest of the economy. More importantly, nearly half of all these jobs are held by workers with a high school diploma or less.
Jobs that benefit the environment are increasingly becoming a part of “ordinary” life in America. As Romney begins his bus tour, will he continue to call these jobs “illusory?”
Max Frankel contributed to this story.
