One in every five US jobs could be green by 2030, according to a major new report published last week by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) that estimates the emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE&RE) industries could employ 37 million people over the next two decades.
The report, Tackling Climate Change, argues that even when the jobs lost from carbon intensive sectors such as coal and oil are taken into account, the development of a low-carbon economy will deliver a net boost in employment of about 4.5 million jobs.
It also warns that failure to develop effective low-carbon policies will lead to further job losses as emerging clean tech industries migrate overseas.
"If we fail to invest in EE&RE, the US runs the risk of losing ground to EE&RE programmes and industries located in other nations," said the report.
While many clean tech commentators have highlighted the fact that low-carbon industries will create large numbers of high tech jobs, the report notes that the bulk of employment in the low-carbon economy will be in more traditional sectors.
For example, the report predicts that the majority of new jobs will be created in the agricultural sector, with 143,000 new jobs representing more than double the number of jobs created in the next most fruitful EE&RE market – carpentry.
Power plant workers, steel and iron workers, and architects are the least likely to benefit from the green drive, the report says. Those sectors stand to gain just 5,000 jobs each.
Significantly, the 4.5 million jobs – again projected under ideal policy conditions – falls far short of the eight million jobs that the report admits have been lost in the US since the start of the recession.
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