Some of the fastest-paced growth in clean-energy jobs is taking place in Western states, according to a study released yesterday by The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Colorado is on the leading edge. Jobs in the sector grew twice as fast as Colorado’s overall job-growth rate of 8.2 percent for the decade ending in 2007, writes the Denver Business Journal. California has the most clean-energy jobs: more than 125,000 compared with Colorado’s 17,000.

Still, Pew notes that Colorado has reaped more than $622 million in clean-energy venture capital in the last two years, the fifth-highest in the nation. And Niki Hawthorne of the Pew Environment Group adds that Colorado is a leader in the industry after adopting standards that created “a promising market for clean energy generation and energy efficiency products.”

The industry is full of opportunities at every level, as Glenn Wilson, a former Anheuser-Busch Brewery plant manager, has discovered. He will lead Front Range Community College’s proud new Clean Energy Technology Program, reports the Fort Collins Coloradoan.