US clean energy jobs fell for the first time since the pandemic — SkimNews
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- Clean energy employment fell to 3.52 million in 2025, losing 36,949 jobs — the first annual decline since the pandemic and erasing nearly 40% of the prior year's gains, per E2's analysis of US Department of Energy data
- E2's project tracker recorded 142 clean energy manufacturing, generation, and storage projects canceled or downsized in 2025, which the group connects to the federal policy reversal
- Job losses reached 35 states, with California shedding nearly 21,000 clean energy jobs — the most of any state — while Florida was a net gainer at roughly 3,800 jobs
- Energy efficiency, renewable energy, and EVs all lost jobs in 2025; only battery storage, grid work, and biofuels posted small gains
- The broader US energy industry shed an estimated 86,000 jobs in 2025, with clean energy accounting for roughly 43% of that decline despite remaining the largest segment of the energy workforce
- Clean energy still employs over 3.5 million workers, compared to 958,000 in oil and gas, 125,000 in coal, and 70,000 in nuclear
Why it matters: The 36,949 clean energy jobs lost in 2025 ended four straight years of growth and wiped out nearly 40% of the gains made in 2024, with 142 projects canceled or downsized and losses spread across 35 states. The Trump administration's rollback of federal clean energy and EV support is now showing a measurable employment cost in a sector that still employs more than three times the combined workforce of oil and gas, coal, and nuclear.
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