While the news out of Washington is regularly dire and depressing (can we please get rid of Scott Pruitt already?), inspiring stories of progress on clean energy are rolling in from across the country. Trump may be desperately trying to prop up fossil fuels, but he doesn’t stand a chance against these grassroots-powered victories. Decisions about how we produce electricity are made in states and cities, not in Washington, DC, and as communities and businesses embrace renewable power and energy efficiency, there’s nothing Trump can do to turn that tide. Here are some recent highlights:
“Solar and wind power was responsible for a remarkable 98 percent of all new U.S. power generation capacity that came online in the first two months of 2018.” - ThinkProgress. It doesn’t matter how many times Donald Trump says he loves coal and that he’ll bring it back, coal is on its way out in favor of solar and wind power. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission states that “the overwhelming majority of new power plants set up in January and February were renewable energy projects.”
The Sierra Club’s Ready For 100 program recently saw its 68th communities commit to 100 percent clean energy. But let’s talk number 66: Clarkston, Georgia, where the city council is the first majority millennial elected body in the U.S. The city has also been called “the most diverse square mile in America,” due to the large number of refugees and immigrants who have relocated to the city in the past 20 years.
“Clean energy is the future. One of the benefits of having a majority millennial city council is that we have a keen eye towards what our community will be like decades from now,” said Clarkston councilwoman Andrea Cervone. “Our hope is to chart a clear path to a future Clarkston with cleaner air, water, and more economic opportunities. We look forward to working with the City of Atlanta and communities across the metro area to make a clean energy transition, which will help us tackle climate change and create a more resilient future even quicker.”
The week before Clarkston made the commitment, Minneapolis voted unanimously to achieve 100 percent clean, renewable electricity citywide by 2030. I am especially pleased with this highlight from their plan:
“The City Coordinator’s Office blueprint shall also include strategies ‘to ensure that all consumers, especially those who have been left out of the benefits of energy programs in the past, communities of color, low-income communities, renters, and communities that have borne the brunt of past environmental racism, receive equitable benefit from this transition.”
The mayor echoed the need as well.
“One effective way to make sure that energy remains affordable and that the transition to clean energy meets the needs of those most marginalized and historically impacted by pollution is persistent and intentional community engagement from a wide range of people,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “Resolutions like the one we passed are more than just a statement of values – they’re a roadmap for shifting our systems to serve everyone in our communities."
Members of the Sierra Club team had worked since last year with Minneapolis City leaders and partners to achieve the 100 percent commitment with strong measures that center justice and equity.
Sierra Club North Star Chapter director Margaret Levin added that this resolution calls for specific strategies to developed for the city’s designated Green Zones, which are communities that face the cumulative effects of environmental pollution as well as social, political, and economic vulnerability. She noted that this resolution also signals to local utilities that the region wants clean energy.
“For years, Beyond Coal Campaign work in Minneapolis has focused on Xcel Energy, which provides electricity to Minneapolis and the surrounding area,” said Levin. “The ambition of this 100 percent clean energy resolution and the city’s leadership sends a clear signal to Xcel that coal, gas, and nuclear plants are not what its customers want.”
Finally, let’s not forget the power of energy efficiency. In Pittsburgh, Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 organizer is collaborating with a number of groups to ensure low-income homeowners in communities of color can lower their energy bills through a local program that assists with efficiency upgrades:
One resident told (Sierra Club organizer Eva) Resnick-Day her utility bill was more than $400 the previous month. “Some of the people we met are on disability, so their response was, ‘Even if I save a few bucks a month, that would help me,’” said Kelsey Salerno, one of the Sierra Club volunteers. “Homeowners wanted to talk about what was going wrong inside their homes,” Resnick-Day said, "how high their energy bills were, the areas where wind was getting through the crack in the window or show us the mold on their ceiling.” They’ve signed up about 250 Homewood residents for the program but are hoping that by the time the program kicks off on May 12, they will reach their goal of 300 homes.
Together we can continue ensuring that clean energy keeps leading the way and that the switch from fossil fuels to solar and wind power is equitable and just. We're proud to see how many groups nationwide are leading the way in this switch.