As presidential nominees Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump prepare to face off in their first debate Tuesday night, voters will be tuning in for clarity on their plans to handle issues including the economy, inflation and job growth.

One sector that faces particular uncertainty after the election is clean energy, which has received a boost from the Biden administration but faced skepticism from Trump.

Climate change and a move toward more sustainable energy have bolstered job growth in the sector in recent years, thanks in part to funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act.  Recent data from the Department of Energy showed clean energy employment increased by 142,000 jobs last year, accounting for more than half of new energy-sector jobs.

The rate was more than double the growth for the rest of the energy sector and the overall U.S. economy, according to the newly released 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report.

Since the implementation of the IRA and the CHIPS and Science Act, there’s been more “long-term certainty” for jobs related to energy efficiency, renewables and climate resilience, the nonprofit Environmental and Energy Study Institute said. The IRA is projected to generate more than 300,000 jobs annually for new energy project construction and about 100,000 permanent jobs each year, according to the EESI.

While job growth in the sector faces uncertainty after the election, industry watchers say the future of energy production and consumption is always changing.

“Energy systems have been in transition for decades — it’s always in transition, it’s always in a state of flux,” Daniel Bresette, president of EESI, said of the upcoming election’s impact.

Ameresco, which integrates clean tech and develops, owns and operates renewable energy projects, is forging ahead with hiring plans regardless of the election’s outcome. It will increase its hiring by 300 workers in the U.S. and Europe this year, in positions ranging from engineers to project managers, developers, analysts and more. Ameresco provides efficient energy solutions for clients that range from federal and state governments to colleges and hospitals.

“Everyone needs energy no matter what, regardless of who is in the White House. So the driver is going to be increasing that need for more secure energy sources, for cheaper energy sources and for cleaner energy sources,” said Nicole Bulgarino, executive vice president and general manager of federal and utility solutions at Ameresco. 

The company is also looking to Gen Z to fill the jobs, as fewer applicants are coming up through trade and vocational schools and younger workers have shown an interest in climate-friendly opportunities. Ameresco, which offers tuition reimbursement and mentorship programs, said it has had success in recruiting recent college grads and investing in their training.

Caroline Leilani Stevenson, a 22-year-old associate electrical engineer at Ameresco, is part of the Gen Z hiring push. Stevenson interned with Ameresco and came back full-time after graduation, working today on projects with the Department of Defense.

She was able to work on a solar project in Honolulu, which was particularly meaningful, as she grew up on Maui. Like others in her generation, she found the idea of working toward more sustainable energy solutions appealing.

“I wanted to make an impact and build something really big,” she said. “The energy needs of a large naval base are not the same as a small elementary school and the suburbs of New York or the energy usage of a hospital are not the same as a large data center … It’s great to be able to design something for a specific site and make a difference in that way. Being able to see and know that the power from these lines is going somewhere and it’s eventually going to improve life at large.”

As Harris and Trump prepare to debate their policies, neither candidate has put forth a comprehensive plan on energy and climate change so far, leading to uncertainty for the sector. But their experiences in the White House can help to inform possible paths.

Harris was a key part of implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, as she cast the tiebreaking vote to pass the bill as vice president to President Joe Biden. She also backed the Green New Deal while serving in the Senate but has walked back some of her earlier stances that veered further to the progressive left. Harris also said during an interview with CNN that she would not ban fracking, a position she’d taken in her previous bid for the White House.

Trump meanwhile has promised to make energy cheaper and focused on drilling for oil in the U.S. He also rolled back major climate policies and has said he would rescind the IRA’s unspent dollars if elected. He called the Green New Deal the “Green New Scam” at an event at the Economic Club of New York last week.

One thing is for sure: Industry analysts are projecting the need for energy to increase significantly, regardless of November’s outcome.

“There [is] lots and lots of new, especially in the electricity space, lots of new demand, [from] the transportation sector, electrification, data centers, artificial intelligence. All of that adds up to a lot of electricity demand,” said Bresette. “It is almost difficult to imagine how much more energy we’re going to need in the future.”

A big purple bus adorned with “AMERICA ❤️ CRYPTO” started making its way across five swing states last week, on a mission to get out the vote ahead of the presidential election.

The campaign, initially launched by Coinbase, has a shorter-term objective: Getting a crypto question asked at Tuesday night’s presidential debate.

The Stand With Crypto Alliance, created last year, initiated a letter writing petition five days ago to pressure ABC News to raise a crypto question in the first — and perhaps only — presidential debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The group, which is hosting 2,500 debate watch parties across the country, has gotten over 2,000 people to sign a pre-drafted letter on its website.

“I am one of the 52 million Americans who own cryptocurrency,” the letter says. “On behalf of myself and all American crypto owners, I urge you to ask the candidates their position on cryptocurrency and its place in the American economy.”

In recent months, Trump has branded himself as the pro-crypto candidate. Harris hasn’t yet made her official stance known on digital assets, but the Biden administration’s aggressive crackdown on the industry has created an opening for the former president.

Trump has pledged to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who’s taken on companies including Coinbase. In addition to the presidential race, the group is backing crypto-friendly politicians in Congress as it pursues more favorable laws. In May, the House passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, with the help of more than 70 Democrats.

“Bipartisan crypto legislation has already passed the House of Representatives, and more and more elected officials are coming out in support of crypto,” the letter says.

ABC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On its website, the alliance gives Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, “A” grades for their support of crypto. For Harris and running mate Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, the group gives a grade of “N/A” and says, “pending stance on crypto.”

Many crypto fanatics see the November election as a defining moment for the sector, and they’re showing up with their wallets. Nearly half of all donations made by corporations this cycle have been from crypto companies, according to a Public Citizen report.

Stand With Crypto’s tour through battleground states is more about turning out the vote than raising cash. And the group has been trying for months to get presidential candidates to talk about the issue.

The alliance previously lobbied CNN with 2,300 emails asking for a crypto-pegged question ahead of the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, who at the time was the presumptive Democratic nominee. The network didn’t broach the topic.

Between online and in-person efforts, Stand with Crypto has signed up 104,000 people through its voter registration tool. Along the way, the group has put on concerts and delivered speeches to throngs of fans.

The bus tour kicked off in Phoenix last Wednesday, with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat who’s now an independent, stoking the crowd with an impassioned speech about electing lawmakers who understand cryptocurrencies.

“Sensible, reasonable regulation that allows the industry to continue to innovate and grow – that’s what we got to stay focused on,” Sinema said.

The bus then headed to Las Vegas, where crypto advocates heard from the state treasurer and chief of staff for the lieutenant governor. According to data shared by the alliance, 385,000 Nevadans are crypto owners, and more than 16,000 people in the state have signed up to be Stand with Crypto advocates.

Arizona and Nevada are two of the seven states considered critical and up for grabs with less than two months until election day and the contest in a virtual tie. This week, the crypto bus will make stops in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which are also among the key swing states.

The final event takes place in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18. Several top Coinbase execs, including Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, will speak, and music duo The Chainsmokers will be performing at a nightclub.

The movement hasn’t entirely committed to Trump.

Coinbase policy head Faryar Shirzad, who will also be speaking in D.C., said on X that he’s been “pleased to take part in a number of discussions with the Harris team.” He described the approach as “constructive” and said “the dialogue had been an important first step.”

Though Harris hasn’t formally come out with her campaign position on crypto, members of her team have been meeting with crypto industry leaders for months.

“I think we’re going to hear from Vice President Harris soon on this,” Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel of North Carolina told CNBC in an interview in July on the sidelines of the biggest bitcoin event of the year in Nashville. “And I’m very optimistic we’re gonna get a reset. And that, I think, will matter in a major way.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., also told CNBC at the time that he had been in dialogue with the Harris team on the issue.

Democrats have since gotten more vocal. At a virtual town hall in August, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a crypto bill could pass his chamber this year.