The US, Canada, and Mexico aim to have 50% renewable energy by 2025.
The United States, Mexico, and Canada have signed a continent-spanning agreement to increase production of emissions-free electricity, improving the number to 50% across the three nations. Currently, about 37% of the continent’s electricity is generated with emissions-free means, such as hydropower, wind power, or solar power. Such generation doesn’t create carbon emissions, which are a leading cause of global climate change.
Canada is sitting at 80% emissions-free power generation, which is quite impressive, and due to a large number of hydropower plants. The United States and Mexico will have some considerable work ahead of them, though the States do have a head start. Mexico may lag far enough behind that the others have to take up the slack, but it’s not a particularly odious task.
It won’t be easy, per se, but experts believe that the goal of 50% by the year 2025 is realistic, provided we begin making changes now. The United States will have to decommission some nuclear power plants, which means stepping up other power sources. But if we get moving toward that goal, we can hit 41% in the United States alone by that time, which will make a big difference.
Unfortunately, the Clean Power Plan will face political difficulties at home considering the it is subject to a Supreme Court Stay, but that’s a problem for another day. Identifying ways to take positive action against climate change is the first step, and a big one to take. And over the last few years an increasing number of private corporations have shown a desire to be more green, and might be willing to change their systems up without necessarily having to be told to do so by the government. Especially in the power industry, private business shoulders a great deal of the burden of reducing emissions and turning back some of the damage humans have done to the planet.