The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) projects that 21 states and
the District of Columbia that have adopted renewable electricity
standards are on track to reduce their global warming emissions by
108 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide by 2020, an amount
equivalent to taking 17.7 million cars off the road. Recent
increases in the amount of renewable electricity required under
existing standards in Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico put the
states over the 100 MMT milestone.



By 2020, UCS projects the state standards will produce more than
46,000 megawatts of clean, renewable power, enough to meet the needs
of 28.5 million typical homes. State renewable electricity standards
are expanding, with at least 10 more states considering adopting a
requirement or raising existing targets. The success of state
renewable energy standards is helping build momentum for a federal
standard of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020. The federal
standard would increase renewable energy output nearly four times
over current state standards.



To help track and compare state standards, UCS has developed a new,
one-stop resource, the Renewable Electricity Standards Toolkit,
which is available at:




http://www.ucsusa.org/res.