100,000 Clean Energy Jobs In Illinois According To Survey

May 6th, 2015 by Jake Richardson

We recently reported about the number of new jobs that could be created by proposed renewable energy legislation in Illinois, but this latest number is much greater than that one. The second-ever comprehensive Clean Jobs Illinois Report found that there are 104,449 clean energy jobs in the land of Lincoln.

For the report, clean energy jobs were those connected with electric or alternative transportation fuels, greenhouse gas management, energy efficiency, wind power, geothermal, or solar power.

Can you believe a single Midwestern American state has over 100,000 clean energy jobs? We often hear about the “problems” with renewable energy in the mainstream media, but do you think the national news networks will report this story? The situation involving a small number bird deaths (based on a problem that was quickly solved) at a solar power tower went viral, but let’s see if this very positive story gets anywhere near the attention. (That would seem to be quite unlikely.)

“Clean energy businesses in Illinois are leading drivers of new economic opportunities. Clean energy businesses are creating new jobs, positioning Illinois as a national leader in this critically important sector and creating new, innovative products which have a positive, real life impact on the cost of energy and the environment,” explained Amy Francetic, the CEO of Clean Energy Trust.

Increasingly, investing in renewable energy makes good economic sense, meaning that the choice to do so is not only about trying to be “green,” as the Union of Concerned Scientists detailed. “Legislation that would strengthen Illinois’s renewable electricity and energy efficiency standards would drive billions in new clean energy investments and save consumers $12 billion between 2015 and 2030, reducing the typical household electricity bill by 23 percent, or $22 per month, in 2030, according to a Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) analysis to be unveiled today.”

Remember the old, false notion “jobs or the environment.” Well, it turns out that in many cases it is “jobs and the environment.”

Image Credit: Clean Jobs Illinois









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