Environment California Kicks Off Public Education Effort for 100% Clean, Renewable Energy

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Environment California Research & Policy Center

Los Angeles, CA — Environment California Research & Policy Center will deploy hundreds of door-knockers this summer as part of a multi-million-dollar effort to educate Americans about the possibility of 100 percent clean, renewable energy.

Part of a nationwide campaign to reach more than 1.3 million Americans, canvassers from offices in El Cerrito, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego will distribute literature to more than 250,000 California households, showing that the country has both the tools and the imperative to transition entirely off dirty fuels to clean sources such as wind and solar.

“To have healthier and more economically vibrant communities right now, and a livable future for our kids, we need to transform the way we produce and consume energy,” said Michelle Kinman, clean energy advocate for Environment California. “The good news we’re spreading is that 100 percent renewable is 100 percent possible.”

The effort comes as more California leaders join the call for and take action towards a 100 percent renewable future. Just this week, the city of Del Mar approved its Climate Action Plan with bipartisan, unanimous support, becoming the second San Diego County city to adopt a 100 percent clean energy future. In December 2015, the city of San Diego became the largest American municipality to adopt a legal commitment to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. These initiatives build upon state level policy, authored by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León and passed in the fall of 2015, committing California to achieve 50 percent renewable energy by 2030.

In Paris in December 2015, the nations of the world made a historic commitment to protect the climate, pledging efforts “to limit [global] temperature increase to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels.” Scientists believe fulfilling that goal will require switching entirely to clean sources by mid-century. At the same time dozens of major corporations ranging from Google, to Coca Cola to Walmart have made commitments to 100 percent renewable energy.

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the United States has the technical potential to meet its current electricity needs more than 100 times over with solar energy and more than 10 times over with wind energy.

A recent Environment America Research & Policy Center review of seven detailed studies on clean energy systems conducted to date — by academics, government agencies and nonprofit organizations – suggests there are no insurmountable technological or economic barriers to tapping the country’s vast potential to achieve 100 percent renewable energy.

Economists predict that we can build a 100 percent renewable energy system at costs comparable to or less than what we would have to spend to continue our reliance on dirty energy.

Americans support clean energy sources such as solar and wind by wide margins and across partisan divides. At the same time, renewable energy development has far outpaced that of conventional dirty fuels for more than a year and a half.

“Renewable energy has strong public support, and it’s nearing a tipping point in our economy,” said Kinman. “And every day, the imperative of addressing our environmental challenges becomes clearer.”