On Friday we let you know about the exciting new effort we’re rolling out in the Northeast to tackle climate disruption, create tens of thousands of new jobs, generate billions of savings for businesses and families, and efficiently power our entire economy with clean energy. And you’re probably wondering why: why this, why now?
Why the Northeast?
For a decade the nine Northeast states that participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”) have led the Nation in moving beyond coal, reducing carbon pollution, investing in energy efficiency, and developing clean energy. Nearly all of those states have set ambitious goals to reduce climate-disrupting pollution 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 across their entire economies. And some of those states have actually looked at what it takes to reach those targets. As Massachusetts highlighted in their Clean Energy and Climate Plan in January: “the only viable path to deep reductions in GHG emissions is through a combination of reduced energy consumption (through increased energy efficiency in vehicles and buildings), expanded availability of clean electricity, and electrification of the transportation and heating sectors… The scope of the challenge can be summarized in three words: reduce, electrify, and decarbonize.”
However the region is not yet on track to meet those targets, and we know that avoiding the worst impacts of climate disruption requires an even faster transition away from polluting energy sources. So the Sierra Club took up that challenge, and asked the brilliant folks at Synapse Energy Economics to help us explore the most cost-effective path for the region to meet their climate goals. Their response was “The RGGI Opportunity 2.0”. What Synapse found was that increasing energy efficiency across the board, cleaning up the electric system with major investments in wind and solar power, and then using that electricity to power our vehicles and heat our homes was the way to go.
More importantly, Synapse found that achieving those goals would generate massive economic rewards: nearly 60,000 new jobs per year on average through 2030 and more than $25 billion savings for businesses and families.
So that’s why we’re working together across the Northeast to help the region meet our climate goals, create jobs, and save everyone oodles of money. If we take on this challenge we’ll invest our energy dollars to create jobs in wind, solar, and electric vehicles right here in the region, no longer exporting our hard-earned cash to other states and countries to buy their dirty and dangerous fuels.
Why Now?
The time is right to make this transition. The cost of wind, solar, and electric vehicles has never been more competitive. As officials from Northeast states gather to make decisions about our energy future, through the 2016 Program Review of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Transportation and Climate Initiative, they need to hear from you. Let your officials know that you want to meet our climate goals, slash carbon pollution, create jobs, save money, and electrify the entire economy with clean energy.
We look forward to working with you to make this happen. Check back in with us soon for more on how our work will help deliver equity and justice for communities that have been overburdened by pollution, underserved by regional economic growth, and face the biggest risks from climate disruption.