New York State Could Set a National Trend with its Clean Energy Standard
By Ken Silverstein, Environmental Leader.
New York State is moving forward with an idea that could become a harbinger of things to come, nationally. It’s the Clean Energy Standard, which focuses more on producing clean power and less on renewable energy standards.
Now, the purpose of New York’s Clean Energy Standard is to help the state generate half of its electricity from sustainable energy sources by 2030, which includes not just wind, solar and hydro — but also nuclear energy. At the same time, the proposal would require that coal plants be retired by 2020.
“If you care about climate change, and don’t just have an ideological stand on a particular energy source, then you know that we need all low-carbon sources as fast as possible to have any hope of reigning in the most adverse environmental effects of burning fossil fuels,” writes Jim Conca, in Forbes.