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Solar Jobs in Ohio Grew 31%, Foundation Says
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio has more than 3,800 people employed manufacturing and installing pollution-free solar energy. The state ranks eighth in the country for solar jobs, according to a report by The Solar Foundation.
“The sun is an unlimited energy sources that could provide all of our energy without the air and water pollution associated with coal, oil and gas.” said Christian Adams, state associate with Environment Ohio. “This report shows that the solar industry is putting people to work to meet a growing percentage of our energy needs with a pollution-free energy source that has no fuel costs.”
Solar is on the rise in Ohio and across the country, officials say, progress directly attributable to the commitment by state and their leaders to the development of solar energy. Environment America released a report last year emphasizing that it is not the availability of sunlight that makes states solar leaders, but the degree to which state and local governments have created effective public policies. “The sky’s the limit on solar. But, right now only a small fraction our energy comes from the sun,” Adams noted. “To take it to the next level, we need to rally around a bigger vision on solar while defending and improving the programs that work today.”
In 2012, for instance, Cincinnati became the first city to secure a 100% renewable electricity supply by using electric aggregation. Last April, Cincinnati City Council unanimously adopted a unanimous resolution to create a citywide goal of putting solar on one in five rooftops by 2028 and develop new financing programs to provide residents with incentives in rooftop and commercial solar markets. Chicago, Cleveland and other cities are following suit with their own green aggregation programs, Adams said.
The Solar Foundation's National Solar Jobs Census found that the U.S. solar industry employed 142,698 Americans in 2013. That figure includes the addition of 23,682 solar jobs over the previous year, representing 19.9% growth in employment since September 2012. Solar employment grew 10 times faster than the national average employment growth rate of 1.9% in the same period.
SOURCE: The Solar Foundation, an independent nonprofit solar research and advocacy organization.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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