Rural America is often on the back burner when it comes to policy and development. Yet, rural America is where agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and small business thrive. It’s the backbone of our economy which is why rural job development was important before the COVID-19 pandemic and why it will be crucial to our overall economic recovery afterwards. The importance of our rural communities’ economic wellbeing is also why ReNew Mexico is officially launching our Rural Jobs Now Campaign.
The renewable energy sector is a growing industry that can add job and economic development to rural areas with wind and solar farms. Wind technicians and solar installers are among the fastest growing jobs in the country, their salaries are above average, and best of all these positions are primarily available in rural communities where most of the wind and solar capacity exists.
For this reason, our primary goal with this new campaign is to ensure rural New Mexico’s job market is expanded to its fullest potential. We aim to show how some measures could impact not only our state’s clean energy commitments, but also impact our rural communities from partaking in family-supporting positions.
Our campaign initiative will include distributing educational content, participating in forums, engaging our advocates, spearheading media outreach, and collaborating with partners to show our leaders that expanding renewable energy development is closely tied with bringing in rural jobs. We have started fostering discussions about the renewable energy industry’s potential to boost our economy and make our communities more resilient (see our Rural Jobs Panel here) and we look forward to having even more great conversations in the coming months.
A cleaner energy economy can help our state provide job security. Here at ReNew Mexico, we hope to see more developers bring their projects to our communities.
We invite you to join us in our initiative to protect rural jobs! Tell your representatives to prioritize rural jobs now and sign our pledge below!