Reality Check: Honest Assessments of Our Energy Future

This statement by RMI authors argues that a low-carbon, sustainable global energy economy is achievable through willpower and policy coordination, countering claims that renewable energy is too environmentally destructive or resource-intensive.

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources concluded that renewable energy could provide 80 percent of global energy needs by 2050. The primary obstacles to achieving this are not resources, land area, or technology, but rather a lack of willpower and the leadership necessary to coordinate policy measures.
• The authors contest claims made by Robert Bryce in a June 7, 2011, New York Times op-ed, asserting that Bryce overestimates new infrastructure requirements by over 400% regarding California's renewable energy mandate. This overestimation results from Bryce ignoring that 18 percent of California's electricity is already renewable and basing calculations on peak historic demand instead of total annual consumption.
• A nationwide mandate for 33 percent renewable electricity would require approximately 800 square miles of total area. This area is less than twice the size of Edwards Air force base and less than one third of the forest area the EPA estimates has been destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining.
• The authors argue that natural gas has significant fuel production and waste stream impacts, noting EPA studies that show 'fugitive' emissions from natural gas extraction can make its global warming potential comparable to coal. In contrast, solar panels and operating wind turbines produce no waste stream and require no fuel inputs.

APA

Kammen, D., Borgeson, S., & Fingerman, K. (2011). Reality Check: Honest Assessments of Our Energy Future. RMI. https://rmi.org/resources/honestassessmentsourenergyfuture/

Chicago

Kammen, Daniel, Sam Borgeson, and Kevin Fingerman. Reality Check: Honest Assessments of Our Energy Future. RMI, 2011. https://rmi.org/resources/honestassessmentsourenergyfuture/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Kammen |first1=Daniel |last2=Borgeson |first2=Sam |last3=Fingerman |first3=Kevin |title=Reality Check: Honest Assessments of Our Energy Future |publisher=RMI |date=29 June 2011 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/honestassessmentsourenergyfuture/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{kammen2011reality, author = {Kammen, Daniel and Borgeson, Sam and Fingerman, Kevin}, title = {{Reality Check: Honest Assessments of Our Energy Future}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2011}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/honestassessmentsourenergyfuture/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }