Milestones: Going all-in on 100% clean energy

Drawing a bright line

By 2016, the convergence of three developments gave our clean energy efforts even greater urgency.

The pace of climate change was accelerating. The federal government had failed to adequately respond by making the necessary changes in our nation’s energy policies (and, with the election of Donald Trump as president, was not going to do better for at least four more years). Meanwhile, there was hope that, with the right push, renewable energy technologies could soon reach a positive tipping point.

Environment America’s Margie Alt and Rob Sargent concluded that it was time to draw a bright line: to persuade first the environmental community, then the public, and then decision-makers that our collective goal should be a country powered by 100% renewable energy.

On March 30, Environment America and Frontier Group released We Have the Power, a survey of studies that, said Research Director Susan Rakov, indicated that America could in fact power our future entirely with renewable energy.

California commits to 100% zero-carbon electricity

As the idea of smaller-scale commitments to 100% renewable energy gained toeholds in such cities as Lancaster, California and such college campuses as Cornell University in New York, our network sought to win commitments in a larger forum: the statewide level.

A pivotal moment occurred as Environment California’s Dan Jacobson received a phone call from state Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin DeLéon. The senator had caught wind that advocates at Environment Massachusetts had drafted legislation to move the Bay State to 100% renewable energy. Sen. DeLéon had no intention of letting Massachusetts get ahead of California. He asked Dan for the Massachusetts bill language, and soon thereafter the senator introduced the symbolically named Senate Bill 100: “100” for 100% zero-carbon energy.

Dan and the Environment California team enlisted the support of more than 250 organizations, from the California Catholic Conference to the business association the Silicon Valley Leadership Group; organized district meetings with 25 lawmakers; hosted multiple citizen “lobby days”; organized media events in 13 cities and towns; and earned the backing of an array of public figures, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Leonardo DiCaprio.

As a final touch to the campaign, Dan ordered hundreds of baseball caps embroidered with “100%” and handed them to coalition partners, legislators and anybody else he could convince to wear one. (Dan claims he now has a permanent ridge in his hair from wearing his 100% cap all day, every day.)

On Sept. 10, 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 100 into law, committing the state to 60% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% zero carbon electricity by 2045. Environment America’s Rob Sargent wrote, “Visionaries, experts and political leaders have talked for years about what a zero-carbon electricity system might look like and whether it is even possible. California’s message to them is: ‘Watch us. Let us show you how it’s done.’”

Nine states committed to 100%

The win in California turbocharged our efforts to win similar commitments in other states.

In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on March 22, 2019, signed legislation calling for the state to go 100% carbon-free by 2045. Sen. Jacob Candelaria, the chief sponsor of the bill, praised Sanders Moore, then director of Environment New Mexico, calling her “general of the bill.” On May 7 that year, climate champion Gov. Jay Inslee signed a similar bill into law. In each case, Dan Jacobson shipped some 100% ballcaps to each state for the bill-signings.

As of mid 2021, nine states have enacted legislation committing to 100 % clean energy, including Hawaii, Maine, New York, Virginia, Oregon and Illinois.

Going into 2022, our state environmental groups are campaigning in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin to set similar goals. And Environment California is urging state officials to speed up the timeline for achieving its 100% goal. Said 100% Renewable Campaign Director Emma Searson, “State policies have played an outsized role in securing the remarkable progress we’ve seen to date. We plan to make sure that those laboratories of democracy continue using their winning formulas to transform our energy future in the years ahead.”

About this series: PIRG, Environment America and The Public Interest Network have achieved much more than we can cover on this page. You can find more milestones of our work on clean energy below. You can also explore an interactive timeline featuring more of our network’s clean energy milestones.