The transition to renewables is an opportunity to bring new jobs, lower electricity costs, and increase disaster resilience, but only if we plan for it! We advocate for a community-driven planning process to create a roadmap for transitioning to clean and renewable energy sources in a way that residents benefit fully.

Taking advantage of this opportunity for structural transformation in our energy system will require equity be placed at the center of the emerging policy frameworks. Community participants in these policy debates about the energy transition often lack concrete details for energy policies that actually do place equity at the center. In addition, policymakers lack both the theoretical grounding and practical frameworks to create and implement equity-centered energy policy.

Fortunately there have been tools devised to assist in these outcomes such as the Energy Scorecard by Initiative for Energy Justice, who "envision a transition across all U.S. states and territories to true energy justice, ensuring that energy is accessible, affordable, clean, and democratically managed for all communities, while also remediating past social, economic, and health burdens on those disproportionately harmed by the current energy system."

The future does look bright as we all work together for a better tomorrow!