With more wind and solar, we can move to 100% clean energy

Too much of our energy comes from coal, oil and other dirty sources that wreak havoc on our environment.

We are surrounded by clean energy options — the power of the sun, the movement of wind and waves, the heat of the earth, even the energy leaking from drafty windows in our homes and businesses. By using energy more efficiently and tapping our vast renewable energy resources, we can move to 100% clean energy that doesn’t pollute and never runs out.

Here in Rhode Island, offshore wind power could generate as much as 75% of the state’s electricity without creating pollution, while creating quality local jobs in the process.

Efficient buildings will spur energy savings

America’s homes are like cars that only get 10 miles to the gallon.

Buildings consume 40% of America’s energy, and much of that energy is literally flying out the window rather than heating or cooling our homes and businesses. What’s worse, energy-wasting buildings are responsible for nearly half of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Millions of Americans are already weather-stripping doors and windows, insulating attics and making their homes more energy efficient and thus healthier, more comfortable and less costly to heat and cool.

If everyone makes these small changes, they can really add up — to 334 million fewer metric tons of global warming pollution emitted each year, the equivalent of taking 65.5 million cars off the road. The average family could save up to $400 on their utility bills.

Visit the Plug Into Clean Energy Guide, published by our sister group the Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center, for tips on how to give your home an efficiency upgrade.