The study by the E2 Environmental Entrepreneur group and the Natural Resources Defense Council says Arizona ranked behind California, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois and Connecticut  in clean energy and transportation job growth in 2012.    

E2 spokesman Bob Keefe said Arizona’s abundant natural resources and strong state incentives for green energy are responsible for the rapid job growth:  “What you’ve seen there in the valley of the sun is a lot of solar installations coming online and started in the past year.   There were 14 announcements for all of last year that led to the creation of 4,000 jobs in Arizona.”   

For instance, Keefe said 400 new jobs were created with the installation of a photovoltaic plant in Yuma, and another 300 jobs at a solar farm in Pima County last year.  He said the state’s top ten ranking in the national survey means more clean energy jobs are probably on the way for Arizona this year.