In a 2015 gathering of entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors at Startup Paradise Demo Day, Rich Wacker, chief executive officer of American Savings Bank, cited education and innovation as our most important drivers of economic growth. Well-educated talent, plus startups, equal higher wages.

We are seeing this happen in clean energy. Innovation in clean energy has spurred economic growth for the state. My colleagues and I at Elemental Excelerator recently commissioned a report, called Transcending Oil, to revisit Hawaii’s recent history of clean energy and project out what is possible. This independent, quantitative analysis was completed by Rhodium Group and released on Transcending Oil Day, April 20. Here are three numbers from the report that illustrate how innovation and clean energy are driving economic growth, two that speak to the head and one that speaks to the heart:

16,000

Hawaii now has 16,000 clean-energy jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that’s 2,000 more than the amount of manufacturing jobs in Hawaii and 12 percent of the number of jobs in the hospitality sector. Clean-energy jobs also pay on average $3 to $7 more than Hawaii’s median wage of $20 per hour. Mainland-based companies like Stem and Carbon Lighthouse have established new Hawaii offices and hired local team members, while homegrown startups like Shifted Energy and in2lytics are continuing to expand their team and operations in Hawaii.

In the next two decades, jobs in our clean-energy sector will see rapid growth. Current mandates walk Hawaii toward 40 percent clean energy by 2030 on our way to 100 percent by 2045. Transcending Oil shows that we can move faster. We have the potential to achieve up to 84 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and it would be less expensive than sticking to our current mandate. Moving faster could drive an additional $2.9 million of investment into the state, which would result in about 1,500 additional jobs. Energy cost savings would bring that number to up to 3,500 new jobs.

$7 billion

Between 2020 and 2045 it could cost Hawaii $12.3 billion to $23.4 billion to operate the systems that bring us electricity. Rhodium Group found that these costs would reduce dramatically, by $3 billion to $7 billion, over this period if we generated more power from renewable energy.

A new bill signed by Gov. David Ige was a step in the right direction to realizing these cost savings and an accelerated adoption of clean energy. The performance-based rate-making bill is designed to align incentives for the utility with Hawaii’s renewable-energy goals and infuse innovation into its current business model.

2.5 million

This figure tugs on our heartstrings. From 2010 to 2015 Hawaii saved 2.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, down 20 percent in this time period. This is not just a state trend; U.S. GHG emissions declined by 14 percent between 2005 and 2016.

Why does this matter? GHG emissions are causing Earth’s climate to change and sea levels to rise. Islands that share the Pacific Ocean with Hawaii are feeling the impact of higher sea levels — Kiribati and Rapa Nui, to name a couple — despite being low on the list of top GHG emitters.

Why does it matter for Hawaii? Transcending Oil finds that “the average person in Hawaii was responsible for 14 metric tons of global warming pollution in 2015.” This number is lower than the U.S. average but higher than 85 percent of the countries on Earth, including Germany, China and India. Continuing this trend means there is a 90 percent chance of the sea level rising 3.2 feet by 2100. The Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission estimates that this would “displace over 20,000 residents, flood 25,800 acres of land and compromise over 6,500 structures with a current value of $19 billion.” For comparison, Ige recently signed a bill to set aside $125 million of aid for the recent flooding on Kauai. From purely a cost perspective, that’s like Kauai’s storm happening two times each year for the next 80 years. By the time keiki born today turn 82, Hawaii could look a lot different, and the world could look a lot different.

Lauren Tonokawa is head of the communications team at Elemental Excelerator. She’s a graduate of the University of Hawaii. Reach her at laurentonokawa@gmail.com.