Clean Energy Employment Initial Impacts from the COVID-19 Economic Crisis

Before COVID-19, nearly 3.4 million Americans across all 50 states and the District of Columbia worked in clean energy occupations, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, grid modernization, clean vehicles and fuels. That’s more people than work in real estate, banking or agriculture in the U.S., and three times the number of Americans that worked in fossil fuels.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), E4TheFuture and BW Research Partnership have been publishing monthly analyses of federal unemployment filings to track the ongoing impacts the pandemic is having on the clean energy workforce.

Download Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | December 2020 Impact Analysis*

*This memo has been revised and is available here. The numbers presented in the original Jan. 13, 2021 memo are based on data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Jan. 8, 2021. An update to that data was made by the BLS in the Feb. 5, 2021  Employment Situation report

Monthly E2, E4TheFuture, ACORE Clean Energy Unemployment Reports

• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | November 2020 Impact Analysis*

*This memo has been revised and is available here. The numbers presented in the original Dec. 8, 2020 memo are based on data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Dec. 4, 2020. An update to that data was made by the BLS in the Feb. 5, 2021  Employment Situation report

• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | October 2020 Impact Analysis*

*This memo has been revised and is available here. The numbers presented in the original Nov. 12, 2020 memo are based on data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Nov. 6, 2020. An update to that data was made by the BLS in the Feb. 5, 2021  Employment Situation report

• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | September 2020 Impact Analysis
• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | August 2020 Impact Analysis
• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | July 2020 Impact Analysis
• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | June 2020 Impact Analysis
• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | May 2020 Impact Analysis
• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | April 2020 Impact Analysis
• Clean Energy & COVID-19 Economic Crisis | March 2020 Impact Analysis

To understand the quality of employment opportunities within the clean energy sector, including a detailed analysis of wages and benefits, download the Clean Jobs, Better Jobs report here.