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In the Race for Clean Energy, the United States is Both a Leader and a Laggard—Here’s How

Union of Concerned Scientists

Announcing recently that the world broke a record by generating 30 percent of all electricity from renewable sources in 2023, the British think tank Ember said the data proves we are in a “new era” of energy in which a permanent decline in fossil fuels is “inevitable.” But first, the undeniably good news. Providing just 1.1

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Ask a Scientist: The US Has to Do More to Meet Its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals

Union of Concerned Scientists

The legislation committed nearly $400 billion to support, among other things, wind and solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies that will make a significant dent in US heat-trapping emissions. Over those 15 years, US global warming emissions declined about 17 percent.

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How Are Lithium-ion Batteries that Store Solar and Wind Power Made?

Union of Concerned Scientists

The renewable energy transition involves harnessing epic forces of nature. Sleek solar panels forged from silver and silica from the depths of the Earth translate the sun’s blindingly fiery light energy into electricity. Batteries help store surplus energy. Source: UniEnergy Technologies / Wikimedia Commons.

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How Much Land Would it Require to Get Most of Our Electricity from Wind and Solar?

Union of Concerned Scientists

Critics of wind and solar routinely raise concerns about how much land would be required to decarbonize the US power sector. Acknowledging that the United States is a leading contributor to carbon emissions, the Biden administration has committed to cutting US emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

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Climate Policy and the Audacity of Hope

Legal Planet

Fourteen states now have net-zero emissions targets for the economy as a whole, and sixteen have zero-carbon targets for the grid. New California legislation will require corporations to disclose their carbon emissions. Climate policy has been boosted by dramatic changes in the economics of clean energy.

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Ask a Scientist: Two Dozen States Can Meet 100 Percent of Electricity Demand with Renewables by 2035

Union of Concerned Scientists

All told, they represent 56 percent of the US population, generate 62 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, and are responsible for 43 percent of the country’s annual carbon emissions. We found that states have technically feasible and highly beneficial ways to achieve 100-percent renewable energy.

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Building a Better Power Grid for Minnesota

Union of Concerned Scientists

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Renewable energy will help with all of that—but we need a grid that is designed for wind and solar instead of having to rely on expensive coal and gas plants.