If there is one thing that works in the world of advocacy, it is a ratings table that shows how one state, metropolitan area, or utility compares to its peers. The latest report, U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index, from Clean Edge does just that.
The fifth annual U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index finds that California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Colorado, and New York lead the way among states in solar and electric vehicle adoption, with smart climate policies and clean energy financing driving the clean tech leadership index growth.
Clean energy is becoming a popular choice for mainstream America with 11 states now generating more than ten percent of their electricity from non-hydro renewable sources, according to the Clean Edge report. As seen in the graph below, Iowa leads the way in utility-scale wind, solar, and geothermal electricity generation.
Meanwhile, California is leading the way on the uptake of electric vehicles.
Taking these factors into account, combined with metrics around green financing, Clean Edge has developed the chart below which shows that for the fifth year now, California has ranked number one out of all 50 states in the deployment of clean tech, with San Francisco taking the top spot by metropolitan area.
Ranking the states and cities in this way should prove a useful tool for advocates across the states. EDF’s work on designing a new regulatory model for New York will be assisted by the desire to move up the clean energy index, just as the work EDF is undertaking to shift the energy use of major cities such as Los Angeles, Austin, and Boston will be helped by looking at what San Francisco is doing to achieve such a high score of 94.4 on the metro index.
So a big thank you goes out to Clean Edge for producing this material with the hope that this work continues.