The United States is undergoing a “clean energy manufacturing renaissance” thanks to growing demand for responsible investing from American consumers, businesses, and investors, according to two new reports from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and the American Clean Power Association (ACP). The new research found that, with support from government policies like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the U.S. clean energy industry has invested $75 billion since August 2022. In the same window, American businesses and consumers have spent $493 billion on products and factories involving clean technologies.
According to the MIT report, Texas received the second largest infusion of private investment in clean energy technologies and infrastructure, totaling $69 billion in the post-IRA period. Ironically, these investments come at a time when Texas has lost $700 million in economic activity and 3,000 full-time jobs as a result of recently passed anti-responsible investing laws.
“Texas and other anti-ESG states can’t have it both ways – allowing private investment funds to create new clean energy manufacturing facilities and jobs in the state but banning those same investment funds from public contracts and pensions,” said Kyle Herrig, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future.
Key findings from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research report include:
- From the second half of 2022 through the first half of this year, actual business and consumer investment totaled $493 billion, a 71% increase from the two-year period preceding the enactment of the IRA.
- Since the IRA’s enactment, clean investment has accounted for more than half of the total US private investment growth. In Q2 2024 alone, clean investment represented 5.5% of the total U.S. private investment in structures, equipment, and durable consumer goods.
- Clean investment has flowed to all 50 states during the post-IRA period, and most of the dollars were spent in:
- California: $94 billion
- Texas: $69 billion
- Florida: $29 billion
- Georgia: $22 billion
- Arizona: $18 billion
Key findings from the American Clean Power Association (ACP) report include:
- The investment into clean energy is driving a new American manufacturing renaissance, marked by substantial new or expanded facilities and job creation:
- Total New Manufacturing Facilities Announced: 161 facilities
- Facilities Online and Operating: 42 facilities
- Facilities in Development: 119 facilities
- The clean energy manufacturing renaissance is also significantly contributing to American employment opportunities:
- Total New Manufacturing Jobs Announced: 100,000+
- 20,000 jobs generated by operational facilities
- 80,000 jobs expected from facilities in development
You can read the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research report here and the American Clean Power Association report here.
