Texas a Leader in Creating Jobs Tied to Clean Energy, Study Says
According to a June 11th story by Kirk Ladendorf of the daily newspaper, AMERICAN-STATESMAN, Texas has become a leader in creating jobs tied to clean energy.
Pew Charitable Trusts researchers counted over 68,000 businesses and 770,000 jobs across the country tied to clean energy as of 2007, and determined that Texas ranked second to California in both jobs and clean-energy businesses.
Although those jobs amounted to .005% of the nation’s total, Pew researchers noted the “clean-energy sector grew twice as fast as the overall economy during the past decade and is poised for explosive growth in the coming years because of a surge in private investment in the sector and in federal government spending.”
According to the Statesman article, “Texas, long known for its strong ties to the oil and gas industry, is also a major player in clean energy, ranking second to California in numbers of businesses (4,802) and jobs (55,646) tied to the sector.”
“Texas is a leader in the clean-energy economy and a strong national performer,” said Kil Huh, who led the Pew study. “Texas is the sixth-largest producer of wind energy in the world. The state’s clean-energy economy is poised for incredible growth.”
Pew officials credited the state’s policies on renewable energy for playing an important part in its growth of wind power generation. The state also ranked third in clean-energy venture investments and fourth in clean-energy patents.
As more cities receive Federal Stimulus funds, they too can set their sights on becoming cleaner. Green energy will bring jobs, though it will most likely be a slow climb until it hits a critical mass–where it should grow exponentially as costs come down and a labor pool is retrained.
Here’s to a greener tomorrow…today.
