Current:Home > News100% Renewable Energy: Cleveland Sets a Big Goal as It Sheds Its Fossil Fuel Past-LoTradeCoin
100% Renewable Energy: Cleveland Sets a Big Goal as It Sheds Its Fossil Fuel Past
View Date:2024-12-23 19:59:38
Cleveland, Ohio, which has worked for years to reinvent itself as it sheds its industrial past, has become the latest major city to announce plans to shift to 100 percent renewable energy sources for electricity.
The plan stands out in a state that in recent years has been more inclined to roll back clean energy rules than strengthen them, and in a territory served by FirstEnergy, which has been a leading burner of fossil fuels.
City officials announced the 100 percent renewable power target Thursday as they released an update to Cleveland’s climate action plan, which aims to reduce greenhouses gases to 80 percent below the 2010 level by 2050.
The plan discusses cutting emissions through improvements in energy efficiency and building design; developing more renewable energy within the city and region, including offshore wind power in Lake Erie; and increasing the use of public transportation and access to electric vehicle charging to reduce fossil fuel use.
It sets a 2050 deadline for getting to 100 percent renewable electricity. But there are no details about how the city will work with its local utilities to implement the plan, an omission that raised concerns among some environmental advocates.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said in a letter introducing the report that local leadership on climate is needed more than ever since President Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.
“This plan is about much more than climate change,” Jackson said. “Implementing the actions in this plan will create a more sustainable Cleveland. By strengthening our economy, cleaning our environment, and improving the health and wellness of Clevelanders, we are building a thriving green city on a blue lake.”
Transforming a Former Industrial Stronghold
Cleveland is where John D. Rockefeller and a partner incorporated Standard Oil in 1870, and where steel production and other heavy industry formed the city’s economic backbone for decades. Heavy industry also took a heavy toll on the city, with pollution that became so problematic it led to a notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River.
With the decline of heavy industry, Cleveland’s population fell. Now, city leaders hope to make clean energy one its drivers of economic growth.
“The business case for energy efficiency and green buildings is strong,” the plan says. “They have lower utility and maintenance costs, less risk from energy price volatility, increase property values, improve health and productivity of occupants, create local jobs, and much more.” It also highlights renewable energy jobs, including in manufacturing of wind turbines and battery storage.
Cleveland released its first climate plan in 2013. The latest version talks about the health and property damage risks to the region, citing Environmental Protection Agency data showing more frequent heat waves, heavy downpours occuring twice as often as they did a century ago, and annual temperatures in the Midwest on pace to rise 3 degrees Fahrenheit over the next few decades. To help combat climate change, the report calls for a 40 percent reduction in city emissions compared to 2010 levels by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050.
The city has a long way to go, however. In 2016, emissions were down only 2 percent from 2010, the report says.
Will Utilities Go Along with the Plan?
The goals are laudable but the deadline is not ambitious enough, said Sandy Buchanan, the Cleveland-based executive director of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a nonprofit clean-energy research group.
“They seem out of step with advancements in the global electricity market” which would allow for a more rapid transition, she said.
Also, she notes that there are almost no details about how the 100 percent renewable energy pledge will be met. She would like to see specifics about how the city’s two main utilities, FirstEnergy and Cleveland Public Power, would adjust their practices to make it possible for the Cleveland to meet the goals.
The city government controls Cleveland Public Power, but not FirstEnergy. Mark Durbin, a FirstEnergy spokesman, said his company was not part of the discussions that led to Cleveland’s commitment.
Ohio’s Shifting Views on Clean Energy
Ohio’s state government has had an on again, off again relationship with renewable energy. The state took a big step forward on clean energy with a 2008 law that set requirements for renewable energy and energy efficiency, but the state has taken steps backwards since then with a weakening of the clean-energy standards and new restrictions on where wind turbines can be placed.
In the absence of state action, clean-energy advocates have been focusing on Ohio’s cities, such as Cincinnati and Columbus.
Columbus “is considering the feasibility of several pathways to get to 100 percent electricity from renewable sources,” said Robin Davis, spokeswoman for Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther. She said it’s possible a goal of 100 percent renewable energy could be folded into its planning underway on a climate plan.
Cleveland now joins a list of 82 U.S. cities that have made pledges to get to 100 percent renewable energy, according to the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign.
veryGood! (242)
Related
- Celtics' Jaylen Brown calls Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo a 'child' over fake handshake
- Trump’s monthslong effort to change results became criminal, indictment says. Follow live updates
- 1 dies, over 50 others hurt in tour bus rollover at Grand Canyon West
- Lighthouse featured in ‘Forrest Gump’ goes dark after lightning strike
- Waymo’s robotaxis now open to anyone who wants a driverless ride in Los Angeles
- Tree of Life shooter to be sentenced to death for Pittsburgh synagogue massacre
- Pilot killed in southern Illinois helicopter crash was crop-dusting at the time
- Ukraine's nightlife is thriving despite Russia's war, even where it has had to rise from the ashes
- Kathy Bates likes 'not having breasts' after her cancer battle: 'They were like 10 pounds'
- Lizzo Sued By Former Dancers for Alleged Sexual Harassment and Weight-Shaming
Ranking
- Amtrak service disrupted after fire near tracks in New York City
- Carli Lloyd blasts USWNT again, calls play 'uninspiring, disappointing' vs. Portugal
- Framber Valdez throws 16th no-hitter in Astros history in 2-0 victory over Guardians
- Turmeric has many purported health benefits. Does science back any of them up?
- Sean Diddy Combs' Lawyers File New Motion for Bail, Claiming Evidence Depicts a Consensual Relationship
- The new CDC director outlines 3 steps to rebuild trust with the public
- NASA launch live stream: Watch Antares rocket take off for International Space Station
- Teamsters: Yellow trucking company headed for bankruptcy, putting 30,000 jobs at risk
Recommendation
-
American arrested in death of another American at luxury hotel in Ireland
-
'This Fool' is an odd-couple comedy with L.A. flair
-
Former USMNT and current Revolution head coach Bruce Arena put on administrative leave
-
Man whose body was found in a barrel in Malibu is identified by authorities
-
Jana Kramer’s Ex Mike Caussin Shares Resentment Over Her Child Support Payments
-
Angus Cloud's Rumored Girlfriend Sydney Martin Says Her Heart Is So Broken After His Death
-
Is narcissism genetic? Narcissists are made, not born. How to keep your kid from becoming one.
-
Multiple dogs euthanized in Alabama after fatally attacking 27-year-old man