America produces more than three times as much power from the sun, the wind and the earth as we did in 2013, with growth in all 50 states. Key technologies such as electric vehicles and battery storage are also booming - helping to repower America with clean energy.
The Biden administration's plan to electrify the entire federal vehicle fleet will not only cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by itself but can lead the way for broader electric vehicle adoption across the country.
Saying goodbye to old technologies and ways of doing things is something we are going to need to practice over and over again in the coming decades as we address the climate crisis. To evoke the musical Hamilton, Massachusetts and California now stand ready to “teach us how to say goodbye” to the internal combustion engine - a technology that has become familiar, but is no longer compatible with a livable future.
“Electrifying everything” at the same time that “everything” is getting bigger, heavier, more energy intensive and more wasteful is a recipe for endless technological tail-chasing. It makes the job of decarbonizing the economy that much harder.
Like incandescent light bulbs and the coal-fired power plants, the internal combustion engines that power our cars and trucks are woefully inefficient - and major sources of pollution. What would it take to bring the era fossil fuel-powered transportation to an end?
Associate Director and Senior Policy Analyst, Frontier Group
Policy Analyst, Frontier Group
