Successful Strategies: Renewable Electricity Standards

The document highlights the success of renewable electricity standards in 28 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, noting they are projected to add 76,750 MW of new capacity and reduce annual CO2 emissions by over 183 million metric tons by 2025. It further advocates for a national 20 percent by 2020 standard, which would increase total renewable power to 117,000 MW and reduce projected power plant CO2 growth by 63 percent.

• Renewable electricity standards have been implemented in 28 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. These policies are projected to generate 76,750 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy capacity by 2025, representing an increase of over 570 percent compared to 1997 U.S. levels (excluding hydro).
• By 2025, state-level renewable standards are expected to lower total annual CO2 emissions by more than 183 million metric tons (MMT), which is equivalent to removing 30 million cars from the road.
• A proposed national renewable standard of 20 percent by 2020 would increase total renewable power to 117,000 MW by 2020, nearly six times the 2005 capacity of approximately 20,000 MW.
• A 20 percent national standard would reduce the projected growth of power plant CO2 emissions by 63 percent, or 223 MMT per year by 2020, equivalent to removing 36.4 million cars from the road.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2009). Successful Strategies: Renewable Electricity Standards. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/climate-solutions-res-12-06-update.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Successful Strategies: Renewable Electricity Standards. 2009. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/climate-solutions-res-12-06-update.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Successful Strategies: Renewable Electricity Standards |date=February 2009 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/climate-solutions-res-12-06-update.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2009successful, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Successful Strategies: Renewable Electricity Standards}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2009}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/climate-solutions-res-12-06-update.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }