In an article by Ira Boudway in the October 15, 2012 edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, there is a reference to the 5 million green jobs over a 10 year period that Barack Obama promised to create when he was campaigning back in 2008.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking green jobs about two years ago.  The Brookings Institute estimates  there are currently 2.7 million green jobs. Most of the “green” jobs that have been identified are not what we as the public would think of as green jobs.  Most are bus drivers and sanitation workers that do not fit the green jobs future we were promised.  In 2010, the Brookings Institute showed  there are currently 184,699 clean-tech jobs in America, up 2,642 since Barack Obama became president in 2009.  Of the $90 billion renewable energy grants and loans set-aside, $21 billion has been spent.  Per the article, there were 3,960 projects that received government assistance and those projects employ 28,854 people.  The President’s Council of Economic Advisors said the spending has created or saved 225,000 clean energy jobs both directly (actual green energy jobs such as operating solar panels or manufacturing or installing them) and indirectly (through the economic activity increased by such added employment through 2010).   If we accept that number as true (a big if) then in three years we still only have 675,000 clean energy jobs in a 4 year period.  That is quite shy of the amount needed to create 5 million jobs through 2018.

A breakout of the jobs and the amount spent by the government is as follows:

To me the more interesting aspect is that if we use the 675,000 job number as correct, then the government’s cost to create one clean-tech job is approximately $31,111.  That amount is a very respectable number if the positions are sustainable.  So, we should be clamoring for the government to release the rest of the funds so that we could create about 2.5 million jobs.   The amount is still short of the 5 million promised by Obama, but it is significant!