The US clean energy sector lost 36,949 jobs in 2025, the first annual drop since the pandemic, according to preliminary data from the group E2, which analyzed US Department of Energy figures. Total clean energy employment fell to 3.52 million, erasing nearly 40% of the gains made in 2024. The losses were widespread, touching 35 states, with California losing nearly 21,000 jobs while Florida added about 3,800.
E2 attributes the downturn to the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress rolling back federal support for clean energy and electric vehicles, which led companies to cancel or scale back projects. The group's project tracker recorded 142 clean energy manufacturing, generation, and storage projects canceled or downsized in 2025. Energy efficiency, renewable energy, and EVs all lost jobs, while battery storage, grid work, and biofuels posted small gains.
The decline in clean energy was part of a broader energy sector contraction: the DOE data cited by E2 shows the entire US energy industry shed about 86,000 jobs in 2025, with clean energy accounting for roughly 43% of that loss. Despite the drop, clean energy remains the largest part of the energy workforce, employing more than 3.5 million people, compared with 958,000 in oil and gas, 125,000 in coal, and 70,000 in nuclear. E2's full Clean Jobs America 2026 report, with more detailed state and county figures, is expected in October.