Beyond Carbon Partner Spotlight #1: Vote Solar Shines Light on the Power of Renewables
This week, we’re kicking off a new series to highlight our incredible partner organizations who are driving climate progress and fighting for environmental justice across the United States. First up: Vote Solar. Sign up for our newsletter to get a first look.
Vote Solar works at the state level across the country to speed the transition to 100 percent clean electricity. Electricity generation from fossil fuels is one of the most significant sources of carbon emissions in this country. In order to make meaningful progress on climate, we must stop burning fossil fuels like coal and gas and start taking full advantage of our abundant renewable resources. That’s Vote Solar’s mission.
Our team pushes for clean energy progress in state legislative and regulatory arenas, where so many decisions about electricity are made. We bring a winning combination of deep policy expertise, coalition building, and public engagement to get the job done. We focus on solar because it’s plentiful, it’s popular, and it has a unique ability to shift power — literally and figuratively — from fossil fuel companies and corporate interests to real people, who overwhelmingly support the kind of clean energy progress that our climate crisis demands. By giving people opportunities to go solar themselves and see the benefits of renewable energy in their own communities, we are delivering real, immediate wins for climate action and building political will for continued progress at all levels of government. We think of solar as the pointy end of the wedge that is cracking open that old centralized fossil paradigm and driving the kind of system-wide change needed to get us to 100 percent clean power.
In this era, the climate news from Washington, D.C. can feel bleak. But if you’re only looking at federal activities, you’re missing the fact that this has been it has been a huge year for clean energy progress at the state level. This year, we’ve pushed states from New York to New Mexico and Maryland to Nevada to put ambitious new clean energy policies on the books. With states leading the way, nearly one in four people in the U.S. now lives in a place with a commitment to get to 100 percent clean electricity. That’s a very big deal, and progress worth celebrating.
And while our country’s politics is highly divided in D.C, solar is finding support on both sides of the aisle in the states. We helped score a big win in the Republican-led South Carolina legislature, which unanimously passed the Energy Freedom Bill this year, lifting restrictive caps on its rooftop solar program and opening the doors for more competitive larger-scale solar. States have a proud tradition of leading our nation’s renewable revolution — and in this era of federal backsliding, we are proving that states can and will keep our country moving forward on clean energy.
So, there’s reason to be optimistic.
Because we’re winning! Due to focused advocacy over the past decade, solar and wind are now the cheapest — and fastest growing — sources of energy. But to finish the job, we have to think much bigger — and much more inclusively. We are continually inspired by the increasing intersectionality of the climate movement. The climate crisis is deeply connected to issues of economic opportunity, racial equity, community resilience, and public health — and more and more, the movement is reflecting that fact, thanks in large part to the leadership of young people and communities that are on the frontlines of all of those issues.
In order to accomplish something as huge as combatting climate change and building a 100 percent clean electricity future, we need a movement that values and encourages participation from everyone: people of every race, gender and life experience. That, in turn, means that we must acknowledge past and existing inequities — and work in partnership with communities of color and other traditionally marginalized communities to make sure we are building a more inclusive path forward.
All across the country, people are calling for solar progress in order to combat the climate crisis — yes — but also to lower their cost of living, to create local jobs, to reduce harmful pollution, and to build a brighter, more resilient future for their children and grandchildren. When we are able to do this work alongside tribal leaders of Picuris Pueblo who are using solar to bring economic opportunity to their community in New Mexico, vulnerable communities in New Orleans who know that local clean energy can make them stronger for the next hurricane, farmers in Minnesota who want to harvest sunshine in order to stay on their land, and young people nationwide who are striking for their own future, we see the signs that that diverse and powerful movement has taken root. Stories like theirs remind us that there is no one reason for our commitment to a just clean energy future — there is every reason.
How can you help?
Contact your state legislators and ask them to support clean energy and climate progress! Overwhelming majorities of American voters want more clean energy powering our homes and communities, but our policymakers just don’t know it because — more often than not — they’re hearing so much more from fossil fuel lobbyists.
In solar energy fights all across the country, we’ve seen time and again the power of people coming together and demanding action from policymakers. Studies confirm that the real stories of constituents like you do have a meaningful impact on how officials vote on these critical issues — that’s especially true at the state level, where so many important energy policy decisions are made. We’ve made it easy to send a postcard with your personal story of solar support to your elected officials here!
The best way to learn more about Vote Solar’s work and to take action for clean energy in your state is to sign up to receive our email alerts on our website here. If email is not your thing, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates from the frontlines of solar progress.
