Although the U.S. federal government did not officially send a representative to November’s United Nations summit in Belém, Brazil, California Governor Gavin Newsom represented his state at the meeting.
In fact, as governor, Newsom is the highest-ranking U.S. representative to attend the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP30).
On December 20, the Guardian reported on Newsom’s five days in Brazil, during which he loudly condemned the U.S. federal government for actively dismantling a large number of clean energy policies, subsidies and initiatives.
As Newsom frequently asserts, California is now the fourth-largest economy in the world, and his comments throughout the conference made a compelling case for states’ ability to promote the adoption and deployment of clean energy regardless of changes in national policy.
During the event, Newsom announced that “nine-tenths” of California’s economy will be powered by clean energy by 2025.
“Besides China, only one other jurisdiction in the world – California – has implemented so much battery storage,” he added. In addition to utility-scale battery backup, home solar combined with ample storage can keep the lights on during widespread power outages.
According to The Guardian , California’s amazing clean energy development didn’t happen spontaneously; The state has made “significant investments in solar, wind and battery storage” to meet its “ambitious goals.”
Installing solar panels is the ultimate home energy hack, in part because battery storage makes homes more resilient. They are becoming more and more popular as electricity bills continue to skyrocket, as solar panels can reduce monthly costs to $0 or less.
TCD’s Solar Explorer connects people interested in clean energy with vetted local technicians to curate competitive bids and can save new customers up to $10,000 on new installations.
California offers significant subsidies for solar power, which will undoubtedly be a factor in the state’s massive growth in clean energy by 2025. There may be an upfront cost involved with solar panels, but Solar Explorer also offers $0 down subscription options like Palmetto’s LightReach.
Plans like Palmetto’s LightReach allow customers to lock in lower prices, but Solar Explorer offers options for nearly every home and budget.
As The Guardian observes, renewable energy sources such as solar are “booming globally”, with the International Energy Agency predicting that there will be more new projects in the next five years than in the past four decades.
In the United States, California is not only leading the way; It provides a scalable, replicable state-level model to bring affordable clean energy to American families.
The California Energy Commission described the shift as “the largest grid transformation in a century,” according to the outlet, adding that the state is on the verge of completely eliminating the use of coal.
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