When I returned home from the Paris climate summit to my small West Virginia town this month, everyone seemed to know I had been there. In the coffee shop, on the sidewalk, at church, everyone wanted to hear about it, and to thank me for my work. In these times that are too often marked by division and fear, it felt like the Paris summit was a lifeboat of hope, and everyone wanted to grab my hand and climb in.
The thing is, that lifeboat was actually built by those very same people wanting to climb aboard -- because the Paris agreement was made possible by years of hard work by grassroots leaders fighting in their backyards for the health of their families and communities, to retire coal plants and replace them with clean energy.
Four years ago, in January 2010, a scrappy band of us took on what seemed like a preposterous goal at the time -- to secure retirement of one-third of US coal plants, and replace them with renewable energy, by 2015. Back then, the climate bill had just been defeated by the coal industry, "clean coal" ads were blanketing the nation, and King Coal seemed invincible. Now, December 2015 is finally here. And guess what?
We did it.
It has truly been a banner year for the 100+ organizations that are part of the Beyond Coal Campaign - from being listed in POLITICO 50 among the “thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics in 2015” to creating critical momentum for U.S. leadership in the Paris climate negotiations. With what feels like enough success and progress to fill a decade, here are ten highlights from 2015, enough to fill your cup to overflowing with hope for what lies ahead in 2016:
1. We won the retirement of one-third of US coal generation - 225 coal plants and 97,170 megawatts of coal proposed to retire since 2010, when we started working to retire existing coal plants. Even better, we have enough renewable energy and efficiency installed or coming online to replace that coal power.
2. We closed big coal loopholes in our clean air and water protections that, collectively, will shape the future of power in America. The Clean Power Plan was one of the biggest successess for the environmental community in 2015, reducing climate-disrupting carbon pollution from coal plants and providing the framework for our climate commitment in Paris. But we also closed other big gaps. The coal water toxics standard will finally turn off the spigot of toxic water pollution from coal plants. We also finalized strong new air pollution standards for sulfur dioxide, haze, and for pollution released when power plants start up, shutdown, or malfunction.
3. We reduced US carbon emissions to the lowest levels in two decades, which was key to US leadership at the Paris summit. According to a report released this year, we’re leading the world in moving beyond coal, which has led to this low in carbon emissions. It’s also inspired bold leadership internationally, including the UK’s announcement that it will be the first nation in the world to end the use of coal, and Alberta’s commitment to phase out coal by 2030.
4. We’re delivering real improvements to people’s lives. Those coal retirements will prevent 5,900 premature deaths and 97,000 asthma attacks, and save our nation almost $3 billion in health care costs -- every year.
5. We won some of our most iconic state-level campaigns:
In Iowa, we reached a big milestone in our push to move beyond coal - the 200th coal plant to announce retirement in the US since 2010.
In Minnesota, we succeeded in a multi-year campaign for clean energy that will retire 1,200 MW of coal power at the Sherco power plant and add 3,500 MW of wind and solar energy, putting that Xcel Energy on track to reduce carbon pollution 60 percent by 2030.
In North Carolina, we won our three-year campaign to retire Duke Energy’s Asheville coal plant, a campaign featured in 2014 by Showtime's Emmy award-winning climate series Years of Living Dangerously.
After suffering a stinging defeat in 2014 when Ohio’s clean energy standards were frozen, we fought back and reached an agreement that retires more than 1,500 MW of coal, along with securing 900 MW of clean energy investments, including 400 MW of solar in Appalachian Ohio.
6. We held the line on blocking coal exports, from the Gulf Coast to Oakland. In the Pacific Northwest, our powerful coalition campaign continued to support the Lummi Nation in their efforts to protect Xwe'chi'eXen, or Cherry Point, from becoming the site of a toxic coal export terminal. The project is proposed in their treaty-protected fishing grounds, and they have not only formally requested that the Army Corps of Engineers reject the permit for the project, but also enlisted the support of tribal partners from across the Northwest.
7. We made real progress toward 100 percent clean energy - starting in San Diego where, after an intensive campaign by Sierra Club and our partners, America's eighth-largest city unanimously passed a legally binding climate plan that commits San Diego to 100 percent clean energy by 2035. This is a big, bipartisan milestone, and a signal of what's come in the new year. On top of that, Congress just approved a five-year extension of federal wind and solar incentives, which is sure to unleash an unprecedented wave of clean energy investment, innovation, and job creation.
8. We're keeping coal in the ground. Coal mining continues to threaten the health of communities in Appalachia and around the nation. With our partners, we won some important victories in 2015, like saving Ison Rock Ridge in Virginia, an iconic mountain slated for mountaintop removal, and demonstrating massive opposition to Alton Coal’s proposal for the first coal strip mine on Utah public lands. We also turned people out to hearings calling for reform of the federal program that gives coal companies a sweetheart deal to mine coal on public land.
9. We doubled down and set a more ambitious target - securing replacement of half US coal generation with clean energy by 2017. Thanks to renewed support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the MacArthur Foundation, and other generous supporters, the Beyond Coal network has even bigger successes in our sights for the critical year ahead.
10. We changed the world. This progress and momentum is why Michael Grunwald called the Beyond Coal campaign, in his longform article for POLITICO this year, "the most extensive...and effective campaign in the [Sierra] Club's 123-year history, and maybe the history of the environmental movement." In another article this year, David Roberts at Vox described the campaign as "one of the most sprawling, diverse, effective, and consequential citizen movements in postwar American history." All that progress and momentum has been powered by grassroots leadership, and together in 2015, we changed the world.
In 2016, we're going to double down. It will be a pivotal year for the fate of our planet. We'll work together to accelerate the replacement of coal with clean energy, defend our clean air and water protections from attacks by big polluters, continue to block coal exports and dangerous mining projects, and provide the resources for an economic transition for coal communities.
Ultimately, the success of the Paris climate summit is a big flashing arrow that points right back at us -- we the people, the same grassroots juggernaut that has driven all this progress to date. It will be up to us to deliver on the commitments our country has made, and I know we can do it. Our kids, the ones who have everything riding in that lifeboat of hope, are counting on us.
Thank you for an unforgettable 2015. I can't wait to see what we will accomplish together next.