(My emphasis below)

The report, “Sizing the Clean Economy,” collected data from every county and major metropolitan areas in the United States from 2003 to 2010. Defining a “green” or “clean” economy as the sector that produces goods and services with an environmental benefit, the study amassed numbers on mascots of green like wind, solar and hydropower and less glamorous sectors like public mass transit and waste management and treatment.

One point the report makes is that while green initiatives are driving growth and innovation, market and policy challenges are preventing them from reaching their full potential. Those obstacles include policy gaps that undercut market demand, shortfalls in financing that lead to uncertainty and instability for investors, and an inadequate system for supporting innovation.

According to the report, the green economy employed 2.7 million people in 2010, or about 2 percent of the American workforce.

To put this number into some perspective, the health care sector, the largest private job provider in the nation, employs 13.8 million people, or 10.2 percent. Despite its relatively modest size, the green economy is still larger than the fossil fuels sector 2.4 million jobs or the biosciences sector 1.4 million jobs.

via ‘Green’ Economy Is Real but Needs a Push, Study Suggests – NYTimes.com.