Giving Compass' Take:

• At InsideClimate News, Dan Gearino discusses how people are losing energy efficiency jobs at a dramatic rate during the global pandemic.

• Why are energy efficiency jobs so essential in the sustainability effort? What can you do to support those who've suffered economic hardship? How can you work to maintain energy efficiency efforts?

• Discover resources that can guide you in your support of energy efficiency and those who've lost jobs during the pandemic.

Talk about clean energy jobs and it often conjures images of wind turbines and solar panels. But wind and solar represent just a fraction of the jobs of the big kahuna that is energy efficiency.

And energy efficiency jobs—which include manufacturers and installers of efficient lighting, appliances and heating systems, among many other groups—are taking a beating because of the coronavirus and the economic disruption it has caused.

Some numbers: Of the 3.4 million clean energy jobs in the United States last year, 2.4 million were in energy efficiency, followed by 522,811 in renewable energy, and the rest in smaller categories of clean energy jobs.

Since the pandemic hit, the country has lost 594,300 clean energy jobs, according to a report issued last week by BW Research Partnership.

John Seryak, CEO of Go Sustainable Energy in Columbus, Ohio, has been unable to do site visits with his customers, which is a key part of how his company advises them on potential changes to lighting, insulation and heating and cooling.

But he hasn't had to lay off any of his staff of 16 people, in part because his business has a number of big jobs already in progress, and his customers are mainly large organizations with the budgets to follow through on existing contracts.

Still, this has been a stressful and disorienting time. Seryak said he wants to remind people that energy efficiency is a virtuous form of cost-cutting.

Clean energy advocacy groups have called on Congress to make clean energy jobs a part of stimulus legislation, which could take many forms, including grants and loans to help companies and households do energy-saving projects.

Read the full article about energy efficiency jobs by Dan Gearino at InsideClimate News.