Clean Energy Advocates Urge Policies to Restore Ohio Jobs Lost During Pandemic

Clean energy advocates say the industry in Ohio has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. An analysis of Labor Department data by the group Environmental Entrepreneurs or E2 finds more than 20,000 Ohioans who worked in the clean energy industry have filed for unemployment since March.

That’s almost 20 percent of the more than 114,000 employed in the industry at the end of last year.

Micaela Preskill,  midwest advocate for the national, nonpartisan business group E2, said the industry needs policymakers' support to get back on track.

“We can do this. We can put Midwesterners back on the job today. We can build a cleaner economy going forward," she said. "We need to see leadership in Washington, D.C. and in our state capitols right away.”   

Preskill points out more than half of Ohio’s clean energy workers are employed by companies with fewer than 20 workers. She and other clean energy advocates are asking state leaders for policies that can help these small businesses.

“History has shown us that clean energy investments and stimulus have a track record of creating jobs and building our economy," Preskill said. She says this will aid an economic recovery. "Hundreds of thousands of electricians, construction workers, technicians and factory workers work in clean energy in every corner of our region and the industry has grown year after year,” she said. 

Advocates are also seeking support from any future Congressional economic stimulus package. 

See the full report below. 

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