Pump Cleaner Fuel, Hawaii

Hawaii isn't winning any contests for being a clean energy powerhouse, at least compared to states like California and Texas. On the other hand, it's not losing any either, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's latest U.S. Energy and Employment Survey. 

Increasing consumer demand for and investment in clean energy in response to worsening global warming is driving up hiring, a trend that's expected to accelerate in the years to come throughout the nation, including in Hawaii. 

The new figures show 14,000 Hawaiians are now employed building, generating, and distributing renewable energy.

While Hawaii can't match employment numbers with behemoths like California, the percentage of the workforce involved in clean energy on our islands rivals the three West Coast states on the mainland.

Green Gas & Diesel Jobs In Hawaii Outnumber Dirty Fossil Fuel Jobs

In good news for Hawaii's air and water quality, the state's renewable fuels sector employed 3.6 times more Hawaiians than oil and petroleum. It had 2,748 workers in 2022, including 992 in corn ethanol, 1,741 in other ethanol, and 15 in woody biomass. The oil sector employed just 756. 

Hawaii's employment in clean fuels is nearly 60% of California's 4,725 workers despite the Golden State having 26 times the population. The Aloha State bested both Oregon and Washington in the number of employees making low carbon fuels.

Clean Electricity Key To Employment And In Fighting Climate Change

Petroleum diesel is used to generate power for nearly 80% of Hawaii's electric grid, which is why clean sources of electric generation like wind and solar are so important to reduce air and water pollution.

The good news is there are now more than 2.5 times as many Hawaiians employed generating electricity from clean energy resources (solar, wind, and hydropower) than from fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil).

The solar industry employed 4,065 Hawaiians, followed by wind with 292 workers and hydropower, which employed 30 Hawaiians. Meanwhile, the oil industry had the most fossil-fuel sourced employees with 1,299, followed by coal with 272 and natural gas with 118.

Clean energy advocates have long stated that installing and maintaining solar panels and wind turbines will employ far more people in the long run than in the declining fossil-fuel industries, and the DOE report backs up that claim.

In fact, more Americans work today in clean energy than in fossil fuels.

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