With an incoming presidential administration seemingly hostile towards action on climate change, local solutions are now more important than ever. With or without Donald Trump‘s help, the North Carolina municipality of Boone is calling on the whole state – and the United States at large – to encourage green jobs and transition to 100 percent clean energy across all energy sectors.
The resolution was approved by a 5-0 vote by Boone Town Council on Thursday, December the 15th. This makes Boone the first town in the country to officially demand that the U.S. completely ditch fossil fuels to “avoid climate catastrophe.”
The country’s total transition to clean energy is not as far-fetched as it seems. Boone’s resolution was inspired in part by the research of renewable energy expert Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford University professor and cofounder of The Solutions Project, a state-by-state roadmap to convert the country to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.
You might have heard of the project before. In fact, Jacobson stopped by David Letterman’s late-night television show in 2013 to explain how the whole world, not just the U.S., can transition to renewables.
“There’s enough wind to power the entire world, for all purposes, around seven times over,” Jacobson explained then. “Solar, about 30 times over, in high-solar locations worldwide.”
Jacobson is an adviser for the North Carolina Climate Solutions Coalition which endorsed Boone’s resolution.
“This decision by Boone, North Carolina to commit to transitioning to 100 percent clean, renewable energy sets a great example for other towns and cities in the U.S. and around the world,” Jacobson commented to EcoWatch. “It is now established that such a transition is possible state by state and country by country.”
Last year, the Solutions Project team published a study explaining how each state in the country can replace fossil fuels by tapping into renewable resources available in each state such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and even small amounts of tidal and wave power.
The authors found that converting the nation’s energy infrastructure into renewables is ideal because it helps fight climate change, saves lives by eliminating air pollution, creates jobs in the rapidly booming renewable energy sector and also stabilizes energy prices.
Jacobson believes that the country’s transition to sustainable energy is possible but the main barriers are “social and political rather than technical or economic.” See North Carolina’s storied solar wars, for example.
“Boone,” however, as Jacobson said, “has overcome many of the social and political barriers.”
Dr. Michael E. Mann, renowned climate scientist and fellow North Carolina Climate Solutions Coalition adviser, praised the town’s vote.
“Daniel Boone was an early pioneer who explored our nation’s frontiers during it’s early history. So it seems fitting that a town named after him would serve as our next great American pioneer, boldly leading us into the frontier of a clean energy-driven economy,” he told EcoWatch. “Just when we really needed some good news in the climate change battle, I thank the people of Boone, North Carolina for providing some.”
Source: EcoWatch
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