A bold vision for our future: 100 percent renewable energy

With an election season full of heated rhetoric and divisive attacks (thankfully) behind us, it’s time to start addressing the real and substantive questions New Yorkers are asking.

Here’s one: What kind of future do we want to build for our nation?

And here’s at least one crucial part of that answer: a future powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

We all know that burning oil, gas and coal has polluted our air, water and land for decades – and now it’s changing the climate even faster than scientists feared it would. Serious impacts of climate change are already underway. The faster we transition away from dangerous fuels, the better able we will be to protect our communities from large-scale catastrophes, including permanent flooding of coastal cities, more extreme storms and widespread food and water shortages.

We know we can have healthier communities right now and a livable future for kids growing up today. But to get there, we must transform the way we produce and consume energy. That’s got to start with a national commitment to 100 percent clean, renewable energy. 

We know that 100 percent renewable energy is 100 percent possible. 

In the first quarter of 2016, 97 percent of all new electricity that came online was wind and solar. Moreover, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are quickly falling in price. Between 2009 and 2014, the cost of solar electricity in the United States fell by 78 percent and the cost of wind energy fell by 58 percent. In many parts of the United States, wind is now the cheapest source of electricity. Over the past 15 years, growth in renewable energy worldwide – especially solar energy – has outpaced most forecasts, event those made by environmental activists. 

In light of facts like these, at least seven detailed studies on clean energy – conducted by academics, government agencies and nonprofits – suggest that we have the tools to make a transition to a renewable energy future.

The momentum for 100 percent renewable energy is building. Corporate leaders like Apple, Google, Facebook and Johnson and Johnson have all made commitments to 100 percent renewable energy. Cities such as San Diego, Aspen, Colorado, and Greensburg, Kansas, all agree that the future is 100 percent renewable energy. 

Moreover, last week, over 50 events were held for the 100% Committed. 100% Renewable. Week of Action for Renewable Energy, coordinated by Environment America and The Climate Reality Project. College students, community leaders, health professionals, elected officials and others from California to Maine to Florida joined the call for a 100 percent renewable future.

So can we build the kind of future we want for New York – one powered 100 percent by clean, renewable energy? The science is there, the technology is there, and the public is increasingly enthusiastic about moving forward. The one key ingredient we need: political will. If our elected officials create a vision and a framework for 100 percent, it will transform the recent acceleration of renewables into an unstoppable force for the future. 

Heather Leibowitz, Esq. is the director of Environment New York, a statewide advocacy organization.