Repower Ohio With Clean Energy
Too much of our energy comes from dirty sources that harm our environment. But by tapping the power of the sun and wind, and using less energy in the first place, we can repower our lives with clean energy that doesn’t pollute and never runs out.
With more wind, solar, and efficiency we can move to clean energy a clean energy future
Too much of our energy comes from coal, oil and other dirty sources that wreak havoc on our environment. In Ohio, a whopping 84% of our electricity comes from coal, the leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Nearly all of our transportation energy comes from oil.
We are surrounded by clean energy options — the power of the sun, the movement of wind and waves, the heat of the earth, even the energy leaking from drafty windows in our homes and businesses. By using energy more efficiently and tapping our vast renewable energy resources, we can repower our state with clean energy that doesn’t pollute and never runs out.
Ohio's Clean Energy Law: Spurring investment in wind, solar and energy efficiency
In 2008, Environment Ohio led a statewide coalition of clean energy businesses, farmers, and environmental organizations to pass SB 221, Ohio's Clean Energy Law, a plan to develop more clean energy in Ohio. Specifically, the bill requires that by 2025, Ohio gets 12.5% of its electricity from renewable resources, including 0.5% from solar power, and reduces electricity demand by 22%. We're well on our way - in 2011, Ohio's first large-scale wind farm began producing enough electricity to power 27,000 homes, and the efficiency programs required by the law are saving the amount of electricity it takes to power 83,000 homes.
Efficient buildings will spur energy savings
Ohio’s homes are like cars that only get 10 miles to the gallon. Buildings consume 40% of our energy, and much of that energy is literally flying out the window rather than heating or cooling our homes and businesses. What’s worse, energy-wasting buildings are responsible for nearly half of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Millions of Americans are already weather-stripping doors and windows, insulating attics and making their homes more energy efficient and thus healthier, more comfortable and less costly to heat and cool.
If everyone makes these small changes, they can really add up — to 334 million fewer metric tons of global warming pollution emitted each year, the equivalent of taking 65.5 million cars off the road. The average family could save up to $400 on their utility bills.
Tell Gov. Kasich we want more clean energy, not less.
Key facts
- From 2010 to 2011, jobs in the solar sector grew 10 times faster than the rest of the economy.
- By making our homes, businesses and other buildings just 20% more efficient, we could save enough energy each year to power almost 100 million homes.
- Enough wind blows in just four states—Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota—to supply all the electricity that America uses in a year.