Full Title: Identifying Priority Areas for Clean Energy Expansion and Emissions Reduction Opportunities
Author(s): Tanya Stasio, PhD Elisabeth Seliga Elizabeth A. Stanton, PhD
Publisher(s): Applied Economics Clinic
Publication Date: April 15, 2025
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Description (excerpt):
Across the United States, electric utilities are converting or replacing fossil fuel-fired resources with clean energy, including solar, solar plus storage, and other renewable energy facilities to reduce local pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions and meet local climate or clean energy transition goals. In 2023, over 72 percent of nationwide electric generating capacity and 67 percent of electric generation was attributed to coal and gas-fired generators (see Figure 1). Fossil fuel-fired electric generating plants are a leading source of air, water, and land pollution that increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular health impacts for communities living nearby. In addition, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the electric power sector was responsible for 25 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.