Why We Cannot and Will Not Go Backwards on Clean Energy

By: Ben Jealous

More jobs. Better jobs. Lower energy prices. Cleaner water. Cleaner air. Fewer asthma attacks. Fewer heart attacks. 

Those are just a few of the benefits working people and communities across this country are reaping from the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. Sure, it is also about saving the planet – which most of us can agree is a good thing. But the economic and health benefits for millions of American families are very real as well.

Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda have threatened to upend the clean energy transition and move us backwards. He has shown us he is more interested in lining the pockets of fossil fuel oligarchs than helping everyday Americans.

But we will not go backwards. That is due in part to market forces that are not going anywhere. And it is due to the resistance that strong leaders and a strong movement for justice will wage in defense of the American people.

In Illinois, more than 130,000 people are now employed in clean energy jobs. In 2023, clean energy jobs grew eight times faster than the rest of the state’s economy and clean vehicles are now the fastest growing sector in the state. California has more than 545,000 people employed in clean energy. 

Those two states come to mind not only because they are both in the top five states for clean energy jobs, but because the governors of both those states are already pledging to resist Trump’s attacks on their progress and the wellbeing of their people. But the governors of every state should be as protective of their constituents. Two other top five states for clean energy jobs are Texas (second only to California with about 262,000) and Florida (with about 172,000). And maybe the far-right governors of those states will stand up against potential efforts to roll back clean energy investments like those found in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). After all, 18 US House Republicans already wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson back in August asking him to leave the IRA’s clean energy tax credits in place because of how they are helping their districts. 

It should not be a partisan issue. Nationally, the Department of Energy found clean energy jobs to be growing at more than twice the rate of US employment overall. A lot of these jobs are in deep red states and districts, because that is where a lot of the IRA investments are flowing. One of the greatest stories of how the clean energy economy is reinvigorating communities and reshoring supply chains – and the jobs they create – comes from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district, where Trump received 75 percent of the vote in 2020. There, the IRA has allowed the solar panel manufacturer Qcells to build solar panel plants and the capacity to house entire supply chain for their panels locally. That means thousands of good jobs as well as hope for the US competing with China in the global solar market – 80 percent of which China currently dominates.

In addition to good jobs and the rebirth of American manufacturing, another major real-life benefit of the clean energy transition for American families is improved health outcomes. Ditching fossil fuels saves lives. The Sierra Club has successfully worked to retire more than 380 coal-fired power plants since 2010. As of this past spring, those retirements are estimated to have prevented roughly 900,000 asthma attacks and over 84,000 heart attacks, saved $25 billion in health care costs, and saved more than 54,000 lives.  

Make no mistake, Trump has made big promises to the fossil fuel industry. He is a climate denier. And it is not unwarranted to be worried about what his next presidency will mean for the clean energy boom.

But the clean energy transition is already happening and some bumps in the road will not stop it.

Again, that is because of market forces. Clean energy is more resilient and less expensive than fossil fuels – and its costs are falling rapidly. As just one example, between 2010 and 2020, the cost of producing electricity from solar power decreased by 85 percent. 

But it is also because of resistance from – and progress in – the states. Again, see the stands being taken by governors like Gavin Newsom in California and JB Pritzker in Illinois. Illinois passed its groundbreaking Climate and Equitable Jobs a year before we even had the IRA, and right now legislators in that state are moving a bill that would save ratepayers an average of $30 a month on their energy bills by modernizing the state’s power grid.

And it is because of those of us dedicated to combating the climate crisis and protecting communities. We are going to redouble our efforts and grow our movement. And we are going to help people understand what speeding up the clean energy transition means for their pocketbooks and their health.

Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.