In April 2024, nonprofit Climate Central published a report about the United States’ renewable energy potential, based on 10 years of solar and wind power data.
The 238,181 GWh of solar generated in the United States in 2023 was more than eight times the volume produced in 2014. Wind power had more than doubled to 425,325 GWh.
Solar and wind could have powered more than 61 million average US homes in 2023. California led, with 68,816 GWh of solar energy. Texas led for wind, with 119,836 GWh, and also generated 31,739 GWh of solar in 2023.
Generation needs to be spread more evenly nationwide, however, and in an effort to advance the US energy transition, groups of young campaigners have turned to the courts.
In 2022, plaintiff Navahine F., whose surname has not been publicized, and 12 other young Hawaiians filed a case requiring the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) to take responsibility for providing a life-sustaining climate. Navahine vs. HDOT was settled in favor of the plaintiffs on June 20, 2024, in what is being regarded as the world’s first youth-led, transportation-focused constitutional climate case.
“This agreement offers a holistic roadmap for states and countries to follow around the world,” said Andrea Rodgers, co-counsel for the plaintiffs.
HDOT is now obliged to transform its transport system to achieve net-negative emissions by 2045, as requested by the campaigners.
Renewables scientist and Stanford University professor Mark Z. Jacobson, who models air pollution and 100%-renewables transitions, was an expert witness for the plaintiffs. The Navahine case was his first legal victory.
“The Hawaii case was the third one I was involved in,” Jacobson told pv magazine. “I also testified in a previous case in Oregon where this group sued the federal government on climate grounds but that has been delayed, or thrown out. We’ve developed plans for each US state to transition to 100% renewables and I was called to testify how they can do that.”
The Oregon case is Juliana vs. the United States. The plaintiffs argued the state had violated their constitutional rights by causing dangerous carbon dioxide concentrations.
In Montana, Jacobson was involved with a case that concluded in June 2023. The Held vs. Montana case was successful in lower courts and is back before the Supreme Court after an appeal by the state. “I think it will hold up,” said Jacobson who, in early August 2024, was about to release a paper analyzing California’s path to a milestone 100 days of 100% clean power.
Uneven generation
Clean power generation is uneven in the United States with some states embracing solar, wind, and other renewable-energy resources more effectively than others.
“What we need right now is to deploy, deploy, deploy renewables and other technologies; clean, renewable energy and electrification on a large scale,” said Jacobson, discussing the action needed to bridge the gap.