Which states are driving the nation’s clean energy boom? A new analysis, which ranks states in a dozen different ways, offers some intriguing results.
Depending on what’s measured, many different states can claim laurels, according to the report published Thursday by the science advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists. And there are high performers among states led by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Kansas led the nation in largest increase in renewable energy generation between 2011-15. Hawaii ranked No. 1 in residential solar power. In California, electric vehicles made up the highest percentage of new car sales last year. And in Iowa, in-state companies could most easily procure renewable energy from utilities and third-party providers in 2016 than anywhere else.
There’s a misconception that clean energy “is something only a few states are doing,” Scott Clausen, a policy expert at the American Council on Renewable Energy who was not involved in this report told InsideClimate News. “It’s really not. It’s becoming much more widespread.”
For this analysis, the authors developed a dozen metrics to gauge a state’s participation in the clean energy industry over time. They measured a state’s existing and planned adoption of renewable energy sources, the impact of the industry on jobs and reviewed policies designed to grow the industry. Every state was ranked in each category, and overall.
“No. 1 overall is California,” said UCS energy analyst and study author John Rogers. “It tops in one of our metrics”—electric vehicle adoption—”and it really gets to the top spot overall by being a stellar all-around performer on clean energy.” The state was also among the leaders in total installed residential solar through 2016 and the slice of in-state power generation that came from renewable sources in 2015.
But some smaller states also excelled. Rhode Island and Massachusetts, for example, both ranked high in categories relating to energy efficiency.
Perhaps the most surprising rankings involved Republican-led states more typically known for their fossil fuel production. For example, South Dakota ranked first for how much of its 2015 in-state power generation came from renewables, largely due to its hydro and wind resources. Wyoming and North Dakota were the top two states in new renewable energy capacity planned through 2019. These same three states also made the top 10 in total clean energy jobs per thousand people.
While this report paints an optimistic picture of the U.S. clean energy industry, it faces new obstacles even in states when there has been progress. For example, in Oklahoma the governor just signed a bill rolling back a popular state tax credit that helped grow the state’s wind industry.
About This Story
Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That’s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.
That’s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can’t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We’ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.
Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.
Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don’t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places?
Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.
Thank you,
