Biden's Clean Energy Strategy Spurs Historic Investment and Wage Growth

New data analysis shows federal labor standards and community benefits plans drove record clean energy investment and sustained wage increases despite high inflation.

Apr. 16, 2026 at 11:26am

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A vibrant abstract composition of overlapping triangles and circles in shades of blue, green, and red, conceptually representing the data-driven economic impacts of the Biden administration's clean energy strategy.Federal clean energy policies drove record investment and wage growth, demonstrating the economic potential of linking climate action to shared prosperity.NYC Today

A new report from the Roosevelt Institute provides a data-driven evaluation of the Biden administration's clean energy industrial policies, demonstrating how labor standards and Community Benefit Plans drove record investment, wage growth, and project success in the clean energy sector. The analysis shows the federal government's strategy of pairing financial incentives with statutory labor standards, tax incentives, and community benefits requirements was more economically successful and had a greater impact on US climate progress than widely recognized.

Why it matters

The Biden administration's approach to clean energy policy sought to tie investments to good jobs and broadly shared prosperity, a strategy that faced skepticism but ultimately showed promising signs of success. Understanding the outcomes of this approach can provide important lessons for future industrial policy design, highlighting the potential upside of mechanisms to share the benefits of major investments with workers and communities.

The details

The report finds that the Biden administration's industrial strategy unleashed a historic surge in clean energy investment, with clean energy manufacturing investments growing from less than $5 billion in 2019 to nearly $60 billion in 2023. This was driven by 'steel in the ground' construction, with clean energy manufacturing growing at a rate of 9.5% - five times higher than the broader industry average. The Department of Energy's procurement requirements also successfully tied 74% of major project funding ($91 billion) to legally binding labor or community agreements, including 110 major projects with 32 committing to both. These projects with labor and community agreements had a much larger average award size of $824 million compared to $323 million for projects without them.

  • Clean energy manufacturing investments grew from less than $5 billion in 2019 to nearly $60 billion in 2023.
  • Clean energy manufacturing grew at a rate of 9.5% between 2019 and 2023, five times higher than the broader industry average of 1.8%.

The players

Biden Administration

The presidential administration that implemented the clean energy industrial policies analyzed in the report.

Department of Energy (DOE)

The federal agency that implemented procurement requirements tying project funding to labor standards and community benefit agreements.

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What they’re saying

“The Biden administration focused on the workforce as a core tenet of building of the full energy ecosystem. The breadth was terrific—it provided work for all the different trades. 2024 was our best year of growth since the 50s.”

— Labor Representative

“The federal government catalyzed new models, new partnerships, new governance structures, new project ideas, new civic infrastructure. It did move the ball. It worked. It actually worked. It just needed more time.”

— Researcher

What’s next

The report is part of a series, with the third paper focusing on strategic opportunities going forward to build on the successes of the Biden-era clean energy policies.

The takeaway

The Biden administration's efforts to tie climate investments to good jobs and broadly shared prosperity showed promising signs of success, but faced challenges with attribution and political volatility. Continuing to invest in coalition-building, organizing, state and local policy, and successful project implementation on the ground will be crucial for durable climate progress.