Green jobs and the clean energy sector have gotten a bad rap due to Republican rhetoric in Washington, according to the Center for American Progress. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has repeatedly bashed green jobs, even calling them "illusory" in one op-ed. He is also in favor of ending the renewable energy production credit, a move that could put at least 37,000 jobs in jeopardy, including those in Illinois. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has said he'd like to create 5 million jobs in the green sector and allocated $80 million to the industry in the stimulus package.

The Center for American Progress went to the state where Romney was formerly governor to see just how real the more than 65,000 clean energy jobs are that have been created in Massachusetts.

The video also details ways in which green jobs are "gaining traction" in states throughout the nation. Take a look:

A recent report from the Labor Department showed that least 3.1 million U.S. workers have green jobs, making up 2.4 percent of the nation's workforce.