The clean energy superpower of the 21st century
Published: 13/10/16
Clinton campaign promises clean energy advancement
With less than a month to go until the US presidential election, Hillary Clinton has maintained a staunch advocacy for renewable energy.
A defining issue in her presidential campaign, Clinton has made clear her intention to tackle climate change by positioning America at the forefront of clean energy innovation.
Ambitious goals
Clinton’s campaign outlines objectives to cut carbon pollution in the United States and across the globe, continuing the momentum that has already seen CO2 emissions in the US fall to the lowest level in 20 years.
Amongst her campaign promises, the Democratic Party candidate has vowed to achieve a number of goals in regard to climate change within ten years of taking office, including:
- The USA to generate enough renewable energy to power every home in the country.
- To cut energy waste by a third through prioritising building advancement for homes, offices, schools and hospitals.
- To reduce greenhouse emissions by up to 30% by 2025, and by 80% before 2050.
These benchmarks, unveiled as part of a comprehensive commitment to improving America’s energy infrastructure and incentivising renewable energy, provided backing to Clinton’s bold statement that the US would become "the clean energy superpower of the 21st century".
Advantages for businesses and consumers
In support of her forthright environmental policy, Clinton has asserted that an America run on clean energy can be a prosperous one for businesses and consumers as low-cost clean energy is adopted and championed.
This notion is backed up by some encouraging employment statistics: US production of clean energy has boomed in the past decade (with solar power production increasing thirty-fold), a period in which renewable energy has become the most rapidly increasing source of new jobs in the country.
In order to nurture this progress Clinton has proposed a range of incentives, including government funding and grants. These are intended to challenge and reward American businesses that advocate and accelerate the generation of clean power.
Indicative of her desire for the industry to buy into these plans, Clinton has also proposed the introduction of 'Buy Clean' labelling for energy products, offering a clear commercial advantage to those producing clean energy to the market.
Harnessing a clean energy future
Clinton’s manifesto states: "I won’t let anyone take us backward, deny our economy the benefits of harnessing a clean energy future, or force our children to endure the catastrophe that would result from unchecked climate change."
These are heartening words in a week when international media sources reported a 40% drop in global investment in clean energy between July and September, the lowest quarter since 2013.
So whilst Clinton’s advocacy of renewable energy could prove to be a trump card in her bid for the White House, her presidency may be cornerstone in the future of cleaner global energy.
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