New Rules, Energy Innovations will Build a Clean Energy Economy

By: Karin Rives, EDF Editorial Manager

The United States is expected to spend some $2 trillion over the next two decades upgrading its aging power grid. That spells opportunity for a nation that has always chosen innovation over business as usual.

In a recent op-ed piece in Power Magazine, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp describes how the United States is now laying the groundwork for a clean energy economy through policies and market forces that are beginning to work in tandem to accelerate change.

The landmark Clean Power Plan that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed in June places the first-ever limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, giving states the incentive to shift to cleaner energy sources and the freedom to design their own paths to compliance.

Renewable energy, of course, is already the fastest-growing power generation sector in America, with just wind and solar now making up more than 4 percent of total market share.

American businesses, meanwhile, are developing products and services that cater to energy-efficient homes where consumers control their own power consumption.

“Perhaps most importantly,” Fred writes, citing a recent Yale University poll, “public support for clean energy is at a record high…People care about energy because it touches everything that we do, and Americans are tired of hearing sad, old myths about why we can’t move forward.”

Read his full op-ed piece here.

This commentary originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog.