DC passes bill to make city run on 100-percent clean energy by 2032

Washington, D.C., will soon be running on 100-percent electric energy.

The D.C. City Council on Tuesday passed a landmark bill to transition the city’s electric grid to run on 100-percent electric energy by 2032.

In November, local lawmakers unanimously voted “yes” in a preliminary vote for the “Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018.”

The policy will also include electric car incentives, create new efficiency standards and expand carbon fees on natural gas and certain oils. That carbon revenue would then be used to fund a “Green Bank” for developing clean energy for those who would otherwise struggle to afford it.

The bill also authorizes the D.C. mayor to enter regional emissions reduction agreements with Maryland and Virginia.

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The capital is following dozens of other U.S. cities that have made similar commitments to transition to renewable energy use in the near future. But D.C.’s timeline is by far the shortest. Burlington, Vt., and Aspen, Colo., already run on clean energy.

Hawaii in 2015 was the first state to make the commitment to transition to renewable energy use, with California this fall also announcing it will transition its electric grids. Both states have a 2045 goal.

The commitments to renewable energy come as a number of recently released national and international studies warn of the dire, and irreversible effects of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Reducing emissions is one step that could limit the impacts of climate change.