A group of governors launched an initiative Monday to deal with a projected workforce shortage in the clean energy industry by training 1 million people by 2035 to do those jobs.
The Democrats’ climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, combined with the bipartisan infrastructure law and CHIPS and Science Act, are beginning to drive increased private sector investments in electric vehicles, batteries, solar, wind and other clean technologies. But the clean energy industry doesn’t have enough workers to match that level of growth.
The initiative, the details of which were first obtained by POLITICO, aims to build a robust labor supply, possibly by using state and federal funds to train workers for these jobs through apprenticeship programs.
“I’m seeing this in real terms. It’s not a statistic. It’s real flesh and blood people in my state getting these jobs,” Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee said in an interview.
