A new report from Food & Water Watch states more than half of all U.S. states have adopted goals towards renewable energy, but too few are allowing “dirty sources” of power to be counted and are currently too weak to prevent climate change. Green Building Advisor’s Scott Gibson has more on what the Washington, D.C., advocacy group found.
Adoption of renewable portfolio standards has come in fits and starts, and program requirements vary considerably from state to state. Iowa was the first state in the country to adopt a RPS in 1983 when it passed legislation requiring investor-owned utilities to buy 105 megawatts of renewable energy. It wasn’t until 1997 that other states began to follow suit, with most coming onboard in the 2000s.
The targeted percentage of electricity coming from renewable sources runs from a low of 0.5% in Iowa to a high of 100% in Hawaii. The mean goal is 25% renewable energy by 2025. Almost all states are currently meeting their renewable energy goals, the report says, which suggests that the targets aren’t ambitious enough.
In the end, the report says, not nearly enough is being done. Fossil fuels still provide the bulk of electricity in the U.S., accounting for more than two thirds of all utility-scale power in 2016, with 8% coming from wind, solar, and geothermal sources.
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