Between 1998 and 2007, the number of jobs in our country's emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs, according to a study by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Study results showed that clean energy jobs grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent between 1998 and 2007.

Best of all: "The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America" report finds that the renewable energy industry is creating a diverse range of well-paying jobs in every single state, across all skill levels and educational backgrounds. Pew's study is the first-ever count across all 50 states of the actual jobs, companies and venture capital investments that supply the growing demand for environmentally friendly products and services.

Read the Pew report here and check out the state-by-state rankings here.