The North Star State has a new North Star: 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. Minnesota joined 10 other states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, in creating laws that require a transition to 100 percent carbon-free electricity—highlighting a trend of state-level action to act on climate, create local jobs, lower energy costs, and reduce deadly pollution. MN Representative Jamie Long, Majority Leader of the Minnesota House, and advocacy group Fresh Energy executive director Michael Noble played key roles in making 100 percent clean electricity the law of the land in the state. This resource includes an interview with them about the process leading to this new Minnesota policy. A big coalition of interest groups supportive of this policy was necessary for its passage. The bill passed full Democratic support and zero Republican support. The coalition included small business, families, family-supporting jobs and labor and trade unions, environmental justice groups, environmental groups, and traditional advocates for renewable energy.

Just five policies across the economy can dramatically cut state greenhouse gas emissions. These include clean electricity standards; zero-emission vehicle standards; clean building equipment standards; industrial efficiency and emissions standards; and standards for methane detection, capture, and destruction. This report evaluates emissions trajectories and policy impacts for six states: Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These states have widely varying emissions profiles. For example, Louisiana’s emissions are dominated by the industrial sector, while in Michigan, the building sector is a significant contributor. In New Mexico, home to significant oil and gas extraction, methane is a major source of GHG emissions.

Green Dash Northeast is a free tool that displays state-level data related to emissions and energy in the Northeast. This tool may be useful for staff at environmental NGOs, state and local governments, and community-based organizations seeking to better understand the status of climate and energy initiatives throughout the region. Green Dash Northeast aggregates publicly available data to present useful emissions and energy-related metrics. Metrics are displayed consistently for all Northeastern states, which allows for meaningful comparisons between states and additive regional values. Categories of data include: greenhouse gas emissions, electric energy, energy efficiency, non-electric fuels, battery storage, clean energy jobs, energy burdens and rates.

Most Americans say they’re more likely to purchase an electric stove than a gas stove, and two-thirds support regulating the emissions from gas-burning stoves after reading about the harmful indoor pollution that they create. Most Americans (54%) would prefer to purchase an electric stove if they were in the market for a new stove, including majorities of both Democrats (57%) and Republicans (53%). After reading about harmful effects of gas stoves, people who said they would choose a gas stove as their first choice dropped from 36% to 27%.

It’s better to prioritize policies and messaging to “make our future housing stock cleaner, healthier and safer and electrify our lives with abundance,” rather than banning gas stoves, which makes people think of sacrifice and should be avoided. Further, in telling a political narrative about the issue, blame the producer, not the consumer. It’s also important to remember that while we need to transition off dependence on gas heating and gas use in homes, changing home cooking will accomplish a tiny portion of our carbon pollution goal—it shouldn’t become the centerpiece of climate messaging.

Most New York State voters support the end of gas in new construction projects. 66% of New York State voters support ending gas in new construction projects (including 85% of Democrats and 43% of Republicans). Fewer than 50% of New Yorkers believe their political leaders have done enough to address climate change. More New Yorkers are concerned about “the cost of home energy bills” (85%) than “climate change” (74%) or “the air quality in their residence” (55%).

Wyoming voters have positive attitudes about fossil fuels but are open to mitigating their impact with carbon removal sites in the state. Wyoming voters express the most favorable views toward traditional energy sources like natural gas (91 percent favorable), oil (84 percent favorable), and coal (78 percent favorable). Nuclear energy (71 percent favorable) enjoys roughly the same favorability as solar energy (69 percent favorable), while wind energy lags relatively behind (52 percent favorable). Notably, several respondents express very strong negative sentiments toward wind turbines — especially regarding their appearance — in an open-ended prompt regarding any additional views toward alternative energy sources. Wyoming voters are open-minded about carbon removal. After reading a brief description, Wyoming voters support building CDR sites in the state by a +50-point margin. There is broad support across party lines from majorities of Democrats (84 percent), Independents (69 percent), and Republicans (65 percent).

In June 2019, the nonprofit Cleveland Owns convened The Lakewood Community Solar Fellowship, a free leadership development program focused on bringing resident-owned community solar to Lakewood, Ohio. A group of 7 residents took part, meeting for a few hours every Sunday in the basement of the local public library. The goal? Form a solar cooperative to fight climate change and build toward climate justice.

When the Fellowship started, most of these residents were strangers, but together they would go on to form the Cleveland Solar Cooperative (CSC), Ohio’s first community-owned cooperative solar developer. How did this happen?

This case study has 3 main aims:

1. Explore how the Lakewood Community Solar Fellowship laid the foundation for residents to take collective action for climate justice by forming CSC.
2. Outline key moments, challenges, and successes residents encountered as they formed the cooperative.
3. With wisdom and resources acquired in the formation of CSC, provide a sample toolkit for other communities aiming to take collective action against climate injustice.

Voters want to see the U.S. electric grid expanded, and widely support the SITE Act after learning about it. 74% of all voters believe it’s urgent to develop new energy infrastructure in the U.S. 74% support expediting the permitting process for power lines. 71% support the SITE Act after reading about it, which would expedite the permitting process. 55% of voter support giving the federal government more authority over interstate power lines.

Swing state voters overwhelmingly support policies to hold energy companies accountable for price spikes amid record oil and gas profits. 78% of battleground state voters support Congress passing new laws to “hold energy companies accountable” for spikes in gas and home heating and cooling prices that have led to record profits for those companies.