More clean energy also brings more jobs. A boom in solar and wind power jobs in the U.S. led the way to a global increase in renewable energy employment to more than 8 million people in 2015, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). In 2015 almost 800,000 people were employed in clean energy in the U.S. compared to less than 200,000 in the fossil fuel industry and not even 70,000 in coal mining. Politicians should notice that the gap is widening. Clean energy jobs are growing by more than 20 percent per year while traditional energy jobs keep falling.