The return on the renewable energy investments includes jobs for rural and white collar workers alike, according to a WIREC panel focusing on job creation.

Christine Woerlen, who works for German energy development organization DENA, said the feed-in tariffs for wind and solar in her country have contributed to the creation 230,000 jobs. Of the new jobs, 41 percent are skilled workers and 5 percent are semi skilled, while 20 percent are sales related, she said.

Germany's strong renewable energy policy has created a shortage of workers, an important lesson for American policy makers.

Reid Detchon of the 25x25 Partnership said that a study his group did in partnership with the University of Tennessee showed that $20 billion in renewable energy would yield 100,000 jobs in the U.S.

Alan Nogee of the Union Concerned Scientists said that producing 20 percent of our energy from renewable resources would create a net gain of 120,000 jobs and would save consumers $10.4 billion in energy costs by 2020. While this is less than one percent of the total energy costs, any net savings when moving off of fossil fuels to renewable resources should be considered significant.