Much has been said about the future of clean energy jobs in New Jersey. It’s being heralded as a place for job growth as workers try to retool their skills to suit a green economy.
The Pew Charitable Trusts detailed the clean energy economy in the United States in a report today, citing the state as having more green jobs than the national average. In 2007, the study says, there were 25,397 jobs in New Jersey’s clean energy economy.
The jobs are diverse, from engineers and plumbers to marketing consultants and teachers, with annual incomes ranging from $21,000 to $111,000. While the number of clean energy jobs dropped by 9.6 percent between 1998 and 2007, the state may see an increase with Gov. Corzine’s push to increase the state’s renewable energy goals to 30 percent by 2020. It will also get a boost from the federal government’s $85 billion in direct spending for energy- and transportation- related programs.
“New Jersey has a large share of America’s clean energy economy,” said Lori Grange, interim deputy director of the Pew Center on the States. “It ranks among the top 10 states for clean energy sector jobs, venture capital investments and patents. The state lost jobs between 1998 and 2007, but attracted more than $280 million in clean technology venture capital in the past three years alone.”