Proving the Promise of the Clean Energy Economy
Climate Solutions launched the New Energy Cities program in 2009 to galvanize local elected officials to drive adoption of clean energy technologies that will reduce carbon emissions, save money on energy use, and create jobs. We aim to prove the promise of the clean energy economy in small- to medium-sized cities throughout the Northwest.
The benefits that we see for communities to embrace the new energy future include:
- Deep energy efficiency reduces waste in energy use, makes homes and businesses more affordable for their owners, and keeps more money that can be spent in the local economy on goods and services other than energy.
- Adding renewable energy alternatives into the mix of energy sources provides a variety of energy options in the marketplace, which makes economic sense and promotes economic security.
- Diversifying the energy system creates jobs that can’t be outsourced, especially in the case of energy efficiency retrofits, which by their very nature have to be done locally.
- Decreasing our dependence on foreign oil is a national security win for our country. The more we can power ourselves with what we can produce in our country, the more secure we will be.
- Using clean energy instead of dirty fossil fuels has enormous public health benefits. Decreasing the amount of toxins we emit into the air through car exhaust and refinery processing and through storm water runoff into our waterways will address air and water pollution.
We are working closely with eight to 12 cities that see the value of investing in their clean energy future and will regularly report out on their successes and lessons learned along the way. We aim to make the New Energy Cities website a national hub for information about Northwest and other American cities that are blazing the path to a new energy future.
