Green Job Announcements Surge Across US Following Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Acts

The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act has led to a surge in green job announcements throughout the United States. Within the next five years, more than 15 states are expected to have new factories or production lines dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicles, batteries, components, and chargers, creating tens of thousands of new jobs. Auto manufacturers have already announced over $88 billion in new investments across the country since the Infrastructure Law was passed, with notable projects including a Ford battery manufacturing facility in Michigan and Tesla's factory expansion in Nevada, which are expected to generate up to 5,500 new jobs.


According to Brett Smith, a research fellow at the Center for Automotive Research, these investments are "remarkable" given the challenges of the pandemic, recession, and supply chain issues. President Biden's policies and legislation, such as the Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, have significantly driven this growth, with both laws containing "made-in-America" provisions and providing billions of dollars in funding. The Inflation Reduction Act, for instance, has allocated $5 billion for grants and loans towards U.S. electric vehicle manufacturing and tax credits for personal and commercial electric vehicles assembled in North America. Meanwhile, the Infrastructure Law has allocated $7.5 billion toward 500,000 electric vehicle chargers nationwide and $5 billion towards clean school buses.
The recent boom in green job announcements across the United States is excellent news for the economy, the environment, and public health. Cars and trucks contribute to 22% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and tailpipe emissions have been associated with approximately 385,000 global deaths in 2015 alone. If all new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2035 were zero-emitting, this would reduce U.S. climate pollution by almost 350 million tons annually by 2035, equivalent to removing over 68 million cars from the roads.

The pollution reduction would not only help the environment but also save families thousands of dollars per vehicle on fuel and prevent as many as 5,000 premature deaths each year by 2040 and up to 98,000 premature deaths by 2050. The recent passage of the Infrastructure Law in November 2021 has resulted in more than 94,000 new jobs announced and over $120 billion in disclosed investments in EV-related factories over the last eight years, with more than half of those investments coming since the passage of the Infrastructure Law.

Many auto manufacturers are planning new factories or expanding existing ones across the United States to manufacture electric vehicles, batteries, components, and chargers. Georgia and Ohio are among the states seeing the most significant announcements. Hyundai Motor Group plans a facility in Georgia that anticipates will create 8,100 new jobs, and Ford and Honda were announcing new plants in Ohio. Electric vehicle manufacturing is also helping to retain existing jobs, such as Nissan making a $500 million investment in electrification at its Canton, Mississippi, vehicle assembly plant that will support the retraining and upskilling of nearly 2,000 jobs.

Each new investment and job announcement is an opportunity to set a substantial standard for high-quality, community-sustaining jobs in the clean economy, said Environmental Defense Fund attorney Peter Zalzal. President Biden's recent policies and legislation, including the Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, have been significant drivers of this growth and helped the United States capture new technical jobs and future growth while building a "Buy America" compliant presence in a very strategic market.