Clean energy won't just save the planet- it could save America's future.

Ironically, Trump's recent decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord lands the America at an impasse when it comes to both global relevance and economic growth.

Solar is the most efficient, fastest-growing, highest-paying new industry, and it's the industry of the future. Clean energy is poised to be a $50 trillion industry, and now it's an industry that will leave the U.S. behind.

Here are 9 facts that show how solar could save America.

1. Solar jobs are growing 12 times faster than the U.S. economy.

According to a 2017 study by EDF Climate Corps and the 2017 IRENA Jobs Report, solar energy is more than just a good idea, it's the inevitable future.

The report estimates that solar and wind jobs are growing at a rate 12 times as fast as the rest of the US economy and suggests that 46% of all large firms have hired additional workers to address issues of sustainability over the past two years.

2. The U.S. solar industry added more jobs in 2015 than the coal, oil, and gas industries combined.

The U.S. Department of Energy's 2017 Energy and Employment Report suggests that the solar industry now employs more people than coal, oil, and gas combined.

• Electric Power Generation and Fuels technologies directly employ more than 1.9 million workers. In 2016, 55 percent, of these workers were employed in low carbon emission generation technologies, including renewables, nuclear, and low-emission natural gas.
• 2.2 million Americans are employed, in whole or in part, in the design, installation, and manufacture of Energy Efficiency products and services, adding 133,000 jobs in 2016.
• Job Growth:
  • Fuel Sector: Expected decline of ~3% over the next 12 months.
  • Energy Efficiency: Projected growth rate of 9%- 16% over the next 12 months, the highest in the energy industry.
  • 

3. The solar industry relies on small business, and solar jobs are much harder to outsource.

EDF Climate Corp Program Director Liz Danley says she was surprised to find that 70% of the 2.2 million Americans who work in jobs related to energy efficiency are employed by companies with 10 employees or fewer.

"What we're talking about here are American small businesses," Danley said. "Most sustainability jobs involve installation, maintenance, and construction, so they're harder to outsource."

4. The solar industry could bring back working class jobs.

• Construction Jobs:
  • Almost 1.4 million Energy Efficiency jobs are in the construction industry.
• Manufacturing Jobs:
  • The USEER survey identified almost 290,000 manufacturing jobs, producing Energy Star® certified products and energy efficient building materials in the United States.
• Automobile Manufacturing Jobs:
  • More than 259,000 employees of the Motor Vehicles and Component Parts industry work with alternative fuels vehicles, an increase of 69,000 jobs in 2016. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and all electric vehicles make up over 76 percent of this number, supporting 198,000 employees.
  • Over 489,000 employees of Motor Vehicles Parts companies are now contributing to more fuel efficient vehicles.
  • At least 710,000 jobs in the Motor Vehicle sector are focused on increasing fuel economy or transitioning to alternative fuels.

• Job Growth:
  • The Fuels sector reported an expected decline of about three percent over the next 12 months.
  • Energy Efficiency employers project the highest growth rate over the next 12 months (nine percent), followed by Electric Power Generation (seven percent).
• Now Hiring:
  • Almost three-quarters of employers across these sectors (73%) reported difficulty hiring workers over the last 12 months; 26% noted that finding workers to fill this rapidly-expanding field was "very difficult."
  • 

5. Solar energy potential dwarfs the potential of every other energy resource on the planet.

This chart from the University at Albany Atmospheric Sciences Research Center estimates the energy reserves for both finite and renewable resources. The energy potential of renewables depicted is their annual energy potential, whereas the energy output of non-renewables is for all known total reserves.

6. Clean energy (including solar) is poised to be a $50-trillion-plus market in the coming decades.

While Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord is disastrous for the planet, it will also be disastrous for the U.S. economy.

Medium's Jom Romm reports,

Ironically, by gutting domestic climate action and clean energy investment, Trump will also weaken the U.S. economically. Other countries, particularly China, have indicated they intend to seize on the vast wealth and high paying jobs that come with leadership in clean energy and climate solutions, which will be a $50 trillion-plus market in the coming decades.
China has already announced its intention to be the economic leader and global hero on climate change. Indeed, one leading Australian financial columnist called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January “the moment China’s president claimed global leadership on trade and climate in the vacuum of America’s advertised withdrawal.

7. Solar energy is cheaper than ever.

The cost of solar panels has fallen tremendously over the past few years.

Solar panels now cost one-third of what they cost in 2010, and they are 227 times cheaper than they were in 1975.

8. Solar panels are more efficient than ever.

Thanks to recent innovations, solar is not only more powerful than ever, but its potential to save homeowners money on electricity and power bills is nothing short of revolutionary.

9. And this is how much solar it would take to power the entire world.

The orange squares are the amount of surface needed to be covered in solar panels to produce enough energy to power the entire world.

In addition to the industry's tremendours growth, solar jobs are difficult to outsource, meaning solar jobs could put American back to work. Solar jobs exist in every state, and they are predominantly working-class jobs which could compensate those who now find themselves underemployed as the oil and coal industries crumble.

Solar also relies on small busnesses - American small businesses - for 70% of it's operating facilities.

Solar is an infinitely renewable resource with tremendous power and endless growth potential, and it could have been the answer to America's working class woes.

Despite Trump's campaign promises to bring back jobs to working class people, his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord has ensured just the opposite. American is now poised to be a global "loser" in the burgeoning new market of sustainable energy.

Hey, who knows? Maybe it's not too late.