The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) recently released a fact sheet, which focuses on employment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors in the United States and around the world. The job figures cited below are sourced from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Bureau of Labor Statics (BLS), as well as international organizations, national non-profits, think tanks and national trade associations.
A 2013 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found 3.4 million green jobs in the United States at the end of 2011. This is the latest data available from BLS, due to the elimination of its Green Careers program. On March 1, 2013, the across-the board spending cuts referred to as sequestration, required by the amended Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, came into effect. As part of those budget cuts, BLS stopped offering all “measuring green jobs” products.
The BLS Green Jobs Initiative to measure green jobs across the United States was operational beginning in fiscal year 2010. The Initiative sought to provide reliable data to the public on the number of existing green jobs in the country, the changes in job numbers over time, the distribution of green jobs, and the wages workers earn in these jobs. BLS defined “green jobs” as jobs which “produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.” The data BLS provided on green jobs for 2009, 2010 and 2011, has been widely used by government agencies, think tanks, and non-profit organizations. The lack of reliable data updates from BLS is a big loss for green job estimates.
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