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Renewable Energy Kills Jobs





Brief Responses to Climate Change Denialism Statements

CPSG 200 Science & Global Change Sophomore Colloquium

Renewable Energy Kills Jobs

You've probably wondered if renewable energy kills jobs. There's a lot of news that tends to politicize environmental issues, and discredit the advancements science has made. I am here to tell you that renewable energy does NOT kill jobs. According to U.S News and World Report, renewable energy generated $58 million in revenue in 2014 to $734 million in 2015.

Currently, the clean energy sector is creating jobs faster than almost any other sector in the American economy. Recent scientific research programs are revolutionizing renewable energy and expanding job opportunities in every state, generating around $200 billion in annual revenue and employing around 2.7 million Americans.

People are seeing job opportunities and research fields related to renewable energy show up in an effort to work with our current climate change. According to fortune.com, the sustainability industry constitutes almost 5 million jobs in the nation. This is possible through the cuts in installation and manufacturing costs that accompany renewable energy. From 2011 to 2017, over 1 million new jobs were created. Twice as many Americans now work in the wind industry as opposed to the coal mining industry.

While US coal mining jobs have fallen in the last 30 years, this is in accordance with the rest of the world. If we want to compete as a global superpower, we need to keep investing in the renewable energy industry. According to the International Renewable Energy Industry, we are still behind the EU, and well behind China, in terms of green energy.


For More Information:
Nesbit, J. 15 March, 2017. “Clean Energy Is Seeing Monumental Job Growth” U.S News and World Report. Accessed 7 October 2018.


Contributed by: Ariana Gitzen, Jamie Lo, Varsha Ramachandran

Last modified: 22 October 2018