Today we are going to do something different. Instead of talking directly about money, we will discuss indirect money sucker is climate change and clean energy. Many cities are expanding their clean energy efforts to tackle climate change, yet many more lag far behind, and only one-fifth have community-wide greenhouse gas reductions goals and are on track to meet them. The scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) analyzes the efforts of 100 major U.S. cities—home to 19% of the nation’s population—to make buildings and transportation more energy efficient and scale up the use of renewable energy. It provides the most comprehensive national measuring stick for climate progress and a roadmap for future improvements. Over time, the Scorecard has adopted metrics to assess community involvement and equity as part of cities’ clean energy efforts.
Recent events—namely the public health and economic devastation wrought by COVID-19, as well as the growing outrage over racial disparities and their impacts on communities of color— could cause policy priorities to change as cities address these challenges. “City budgets are under enormous strain. Clean energy policies are part of the solution because they create jobs while reducing energy costs for households, businesses, and city government,” said Ribeiro. “By keeping up and expanding clean energy efforts, cities can support the economic recovery while combatting the climate crisis.”
Join us for our discussion with David Ribeiro on Clean Energy . David Ribeiro focuses on energy efficiency planning and implementation in cities and communities. He is the lead author of the annual City Clean Energy Scorecard and coordinates technical assistance to cities included in the Scorecard. He also
conducts research, analysis, and outreach on community resilience, the water–energy nexus, and workforce development, and he contributes to international projects related to local energy efficiency policy. David holds a bachelor of arts in history from the College of the Holy Cross and a master of science in energy policy and climate from Johns Hopkins University.
