City Attempts to Lead the Way: Large U.S. Cities' Progress in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The 2019 City Clean Energy Scorecard is an annual report measuring the progress of city policies and programs that save energy, promote renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By assessing the actions of 75 cities on more than 50 metrics, it is the most comprehensive national report to date on city progress toward climate goals.

We rank 75 large US cities for their energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts across 5 policy areas: local government operations, community-wide initiatives, buildings, energy and water utilities, and transportation. Boston retained its position at the top of the rankings this year, followed by San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Washington. We also identified Cincinnati, Hartford, and Providence as cities to watch; all three have recently adopted major clean energy policies and programs. Oklahoma City, followed by Tulsa and McAllen, TX were at the bottom of the rankings

Beyond assessing individual cities, the report’s findings identified climate policy trends across large US cities. We found that the 75 cities included took more than 265 actions between January 2017 and April 2019 to advance clean energy. Actions ranged from modest (e.g., adopting telecommuting policies for public employees) to cutting-edge (e.g., setting performance standards for existing buildings). Cities continued to expand their focus on energy savings in buildings. Since the last edition, cities have adopted or advocated for more stringent building energy codes and have adopted myriad requirements for existing buildings including benchmarking ordinances, labeling requirements, and performance standards. While cities are taking significant action, most are not yet on track to meet their climate goals. Forty-eight cities have community-wide climate goals, but we found that only 11 cities are on track to achieve their goals to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report also includes findings related to the transportation sector and incorporating equity into climate action planning.

This was the first edition of the report to assess local clean energy efforts broadly. Past versions of the report focused on energy efficiency; this was the first edition to include metrics on renewable energy. Renewable energy policy-related data that we collected included but was not limited to: setting renewable electricity goals, supporting onsite renewable energy systems and community solar, and adopting solar readiness codes. Austin earned the highest score for renewable energy, due in part to 36% of total energy generation being supplied from renewable sources.

This oral presentation will discuss the major findings of the report. By doing so, attendees will learn how their own cities are faring in their transition to the clean energy economy. Discussion of the broader trends will provide important content on how cities as a whole are working to reduce GHG emissions. The audience will be left with a greater understanding of what cities are doing and how it is affecting GHG emissions in their communities. Attendees will also learn of the ways the Scorecard can help cities take the next step in their emissions reductions.