Since President Biden signed a law last year including billions of dollars in initiatives to promote renewable energy and cut carbon emissions, clean energy companies have announced plans for about 101,000 new jobs.
The new report comes from Climate Power, an organization that promotes policies to counteract climate change. Climate Power based its calculations on press releases announcing new positions in the clean energy sector from August 2017 through the end of January 2018. The study found that the 94 new clean energy projects totaling nearly $90 billion are responsible for creating jobs in 31 different states.
These “clean technology” initiatives target industries like solar power, wind power, hydrogen power, battery production, and electric vehicle development.
Top states in terms of total jobs are Kansas (20,500), Georgia (16,627), and Tennessee (11,753). Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas are home to 49 of the projects the group highlighted.
According to the report, businesses are planning the construction of 40 additional battery manufacturing facilities. The article mentions a site in Kansas where Panasonic plans to invest $4 billion to manufacture batteries for Tesla’s EVs. Additionally, the group notes the emergence of a “Battery Belt” across a corridor of states from Michigan to Georgia.
Climate Power’s executive director Lori Lodes said in a statement, “This is only the beginning.”
“We’re already at the precipice of a renewed manufacturing, Made in America boom that will create opportunities for millions of Americans,” she said.
An estimated $390 billion in federal tax cuts, grants, and financing assistance is allocated by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act to various climate, environmental, and manufacturing initiatives.
Flooding, wildfires, drought, extreme heat, and the extinction of plants and animals are just some of the natural disasters that the law aims to prevent. With its emphasis on bolstering U.S. manufacturing and domestic supply chains, the legislation also amounts to a major industrial development policy.
