Georgia, California and Texas far outpaced all other states in creating clean energy and clean transportation jobs in the first quarter of the year, according to Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a nonpartisan business group that promotes the creation of clean jobs.
These three states helped fuel the growth in clean jobs, which doubled during the first quarter from a year earlier to 9,800 nationwide, E2 said.
The group defines "clean" jobs as any energy or transportation sector jobs that do not use or encourage the use of fossil fuels.
Georgia gained 2,870 clean jobs in 2014, California gained 1,885 and Texas gained 1,612. New Mexico, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia, Utah, Maryland and Indiana rounded out the top 10.
“Nearly 10,000 new job announcements in one quarter shows just how fast clean energy is growing in America,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2. "But building an economy increasingly fueled by clean, renewable energy like wind and solar doesn't happen in just one quarter.”
Nationally, solar energy was the top job creator in the first quarter, with more than 6,600 jobs announced from nearly 20 projects in solar generation and solar manufacturing. The report attributed declining materials costs as a primary reason for the solar industry's strong showing.