Cities
Clean Energy Leadership

Sierra Club ... 10 Cities Leading the Way to 100% Clean Energy

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

10 Cities Leading the Way to 100% Clean Energy

The Sierra Club released a new report this week showcasing 10 U.S. cities that have made ambitious commitments to be powered by 100 percent clean, renewable energy. This report is the first from Ready for 100, a new Sierra Club campaign launched in 2016 challenging 100 cities in the U.S. to move away from dirty, outdated fossil fuels, step up and commit to 100 percent clean energy. Sixteen cities, including major cities like San Diego, have already made such commitments and a handful have already achieved 100 percent clean energy and are powered today with entirely renewable sources.

'Cities, long the hotbed of innovation, the drivers of change and the incubators of solutions to the world's biggest challenges, are ready for 100 percent clean energy,' Jodie Van Horn, director of the Sierra Club's Ready for 100 campaign, said. 'Other city leaders should take note from these examples and take the pledge to power their cities by 100 percent clean energy.'

Among the cities highlighted in the report is San Francisco, the site of the first-ever North American Renewable Cities Dialogue. In mid-July this year, staff and public officials from more than 20 cities across the U.S. participated in this dialogue to discuss opportunities, challenges and tools available to help them move to 100 percent renewable energy across all energy sectors. Also featured are Aspen, Colorado, the site of the kickoff of the Sierra Club's #Readyfor100 National Tour and San Diego, the eighth-largest city in the country and the largest city to commit to clean energy.

'San Diego is known around the world for our beautiful environment, so it's only fitting that we help set the standard for how to protect it. We're moving in a big way toward renewable energy use because it fuels green jobs and will improve the quality of life for our residents,' San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. 'It's about handing down to our children a city that is cleaner than it was when we received it.'

'Not only are cities ready for clean energy—it's ready for them. Clean energy keeps money in local government coffers, creates local jobs, saves people money, cuts pollution, and saves lives,' added Van Horn. 'Other cities would be wise to mirror these commitments coast to coast.'

Cities Are Ready For 100% Clean Energy: 10 Case Studies

Read the Ready For 100 Cities Are Ready For 100% Clean Energy - 10 Case Studies Report here

Cities have long been the hotbed of innovation, the drivers of change, the incubators of solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. Clean energy is the latest example of how leadership at the local level is pushing the envelope at a critical juncture.

This report showcases 10 U.S. cities that have made ambitious commitments to be powered by 100% renewable energy.

For a variety of reasons and in diverse circumstances, public officials and community leaders see the transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy not as an obligation but as an opportunity. Cities powered by 100% clean energy save taxpayer dollars, help their residents save money, create good jobs, and foster a better quality of life. They are catalysts for a new economy and clean energy future.

THESE CITIES SHOW US THAT

• Clean energy keeps money in local government coffers. Solar prices have dropped 80% in recent years and wind 60%. Georgetown, Texas, found that renewables made sound fiscal sense as it could lock in lower rates for solar power, and renewables use far less water than fossil fuels— critical in a state accustomed to drought.

• Clean energy creates local jobs. The solar industry already employs more than 200,000 people, and in 2015 job growth in the solar industry was 12 times greater than in the general economy. A just transition to a modernized, smart power grid can create millions of new, living-wage good careers. In San Diego, California, the Republican mayor was able to convince business leaders to sign on to a 100% renewables plan because of the promise of techsector and solar manufacturing jobs.

• Clean energy saves people money. Clean energy can bring economic benefits to every American family. Stanford scientists studied this issue and concluded that the transition to a clean energy economy would save the average American family over $200 a year in energy costs and $1,500 a year in healthcare costs.

• Clean energy cuts pollution and saves lives. Clean energy can address harms faced by front line communities that have suffered the worst consequences of fossilfuel pollution. Air and water pollution emitted by coal and natural gas plants is linked to asthma, neurological damage, heart attacks, and cancer. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy reduces premature mortality.