Green jobs sector poised for explosive growth

Washington, June 14 (ANI): A new study has determined that green-collar workers, who include everyone from energy-efficiency consultants to wastewater plant operators, are poised for explosive growth as a segment of the US economy.

The study, published by the Pew Charitable Trusts, says that the "clean-energy economy" grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007 to 777,000 jobs.

While that is just half a percent of all US jobs, the clean-energy economy is poised to grow significantly with financial support from the public and private sectors, the Pew report says.

"The nation's clean-energy economy is poised for explosive growth," said Lori Grange, the Pew Center on the States' interim deputy director.

"The trends include surging venture capital investment, a critical growth rate in clean-energy generation, energy efficiency and environmentally friendly products," Grange added.

About 80 percent of venture capital investments in 2008 were in the clean energy and energy efficiency sector, broadly known as "cleantech."

While cleantech slumped with overall venture capital in the first quarter of 2009, the sector outperformed telecommunications, media and other sectors, according to an analysis of Thompson Reuters data by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

"Cleantech is faring better than the rest of the venture capital sectors - that's driven by the sense that the government policy thinking has changed radically with the new administration," said David Prend, a NVCA director and managing general partner at the venture capital firm RockPort Capital Partners.

Indeed, the Pew report cites the 787 billion dollars American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed in February, as a significant force driving the clean-energy economy.

The stimulus includes nearly 85 billion dollars in direct spending and tax incentives for energy- and transportation-related programs.

The report finds that job growth in the clean-energy economy outperformed total job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia between 1998 and 2007, the most recent year for which data are available.

The total number of jobs grew 3.7 percent during that period, which included the dot-com boom and bust and the beginning of the current recession.

California, the most populous state in the US, had the most clean-energy jobs last year - about 125,000 jobs, or 0.71 percent of its total work force. Texas ranked second with about 55,000 clean-energy jobs. (ANI)