Advocates of renewable energy are increasingly promoting the prospects of job creation as a key reason to aggressively move to renewable energy.

One of the more publicized initiatives to link renewable energy to job creation is the Apollo Alliance. This organization recently completed a study that estimates over 3 million jobs to be created in the U.S. as a result of a major national commitment to renewable energy. Of course, the analytic approach and assumptions employed in the study can always be questioned, and the fact that organized labor is intimately involved in the Apollo Alliance raises some concerns about unbiasedness.

Nevertheless, it seems directionally clear that increased renewable energy activity is positively tied to new jobs. This notion of job creation through renewable energy may be resonating better with policy-makers and citizens than the well-worn environmental reasons, and maybe even as well as the energy security/independence rationale, for pursuing renewable energy. I’m reading and hearing of it more frequently. If it is gaining traction and has legs, it might be a useful bandwagon for clean tech supporters to jump onto.