Clean-energy companies announced plans involving at least 137 projects in 42 states during the first quarter of this year, according to an analysis released Wednesday by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a nationwide network of business leaders affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The new report, co-authored by researchers from the Brookings Institution, the Breakthrough Institute and the World Resources Institute, is the first to examine in detail which policies are actually expiring and when, The Washington Post reported.

Congress has created more than 92 different programs dealing with clean tech – everything from production tax credits for wind power to advanced manufacturing credits to loan guarantees for nuclear power. And, by 2014, 70 percent of these programs will have vanished.

The E2 report comes as Congress and some state legislatures are debating whether to cancel a wide range of clean-energy incentives and programs – something that could be disastrous to continued job growth, said Judith Albert, E2’s executive director.

“These numbers show us that our nation’s investments in clean energy are paying off,” Albert said. “With badly needed jobs announcements coming from almost every state in the first quarter, now is certainly not the time for Congress and state governments to derail this key part of our economic recovery.”

The new projects announced so far this year could create as many as 46,000 new American jobs. In Iowa, four clean-energy projects announced during the first quarter in Iowa will create nearly 2,400 new jobs in the state, the report said.

Nationwide, power generation companies announced the most clean-energy jobs in the first quarter. Wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and other renewable energy sectors announced 68 projects that together would create more than 18,000 jobs.

For the complete report, visit www.e2.org/cleanjobs.