Climate Action
Clean Energy Saves Money and Lives
October 21, 2025
One thing is clear: the transition to renewable power is reshaping our world. From cleaner air, new jobs, and boundless potential, clean energy — energy sources that produce little to no greenhouse gas emissions — is no longer just an environmental solution but an economic, social, and public health breakthrough. Along coastlines, wind turbines sweep through the air; in deserts, solar panels shimmer under the sun; deep underground, heat rises to provide electricity. In the first half of 2025 alone, $386 billion was invested worldwide in renewable energy projects. Here are three key reasons why.
1. Clean Energy = Cheapest Power Source
One of the most persistent misconceptions about renewable energy is that it’s more expensive than fossil fuel like oil, coal and gas. For decades, fossil fuel supporters have leaned in on the idea that renewables couldn’t compete in costs. But global data shows this is not true – wind and solar are now the cheapest sources of new power generation.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has reported the cost of utility-scale solar, or in other words large-scale solar power projects, decreasing by over 90% in the last decade while wind costs have dropped by 70%.
These figures represent a historic economic shift. Utility-scale solar for 2025 comes in at around $38–$78 per megawatt-hour, and onshore wind around $37–$86, compared to $71–$173 for coal and $141–$220 for new nuclear.
Even when you factor in storage or grid upgrades, clean power often undercuts fossil fuels. This means consumers, businesses and utility companies are choosing renewable energy sources not just for environmental reasons but because it’s become the financially viable choice. Cheaper power means lower electricity bills for families and more predictable costs for industries heavily reliant on energy.
However, a critical factor that also has to be factored in is the drastic rise in energy demand, created by the explosion in the building of data centers to run AI programs like Chat GPT, GEmini, Ai Perplexity, Claude and many more.
In the U.S. alone, data centers consumed about 176 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023, accounting for 4.4% of total U.S. electricity use. This demand is projected to nearly double by 2028. Global data center electricity needs could rise by 50% by 2027 and up to 165% by 2030 compared to 2023. This surge in AI-related energy needs puts pressure on mainstream and renewable grids and infrastructure, making the transition to renewables even more vital.
Renewable Energy is Good for Your Health
Fossil fuels come with a heavy hidden cost that doesn’t show up on electricity bills. According to research by the Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital of Nancy, France and published in the National Library of Medicine, the burning of coal, oil and gas releases carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter are strongly associated with risk of asthma, heart disease and premature death.
The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution is heavily tied to fossil fuel emissions, and kills nearly 7 million people worldwide every single year globally. 91,000 early deaths and hundreds of thousands of health issues are attributed to air pollution caused by the burning of oil and gas in the US alone.
In comparison, solar and wind produce electricity without combustion, meaning no tailpipes, smokestacks or toxic residues. Their small lifecycle emissions come from manufacturing and transporting solar panels and wind turbines. Even when those emissions are included, their total greenhouse gas emissions are a fraction fossil fuels. For example, rooftop solar emits around 43 grams of carbon dioxide on average per kilowatt-hour, compared to coal at roughly 1000 grams and gas at 486 grams.
Cleaner air means healthier communities and reduced healthcare costs due to decreasing numbers of air pollution-related diseases. It’s not just about saving the planet from climate change, it’s also about saving lives and making the transition to renewable energy is one of the most effective public health strategies available.
Solar Power = World’s Annual Energy Needs in Just One Hour
In less than one day, the sun delivers enough solar energy to power the entire planet for a year, generating around 21 terawatts. Humanity’s total annual energy consumption in 2024 was 18.77 terawatt. This staggering abundance highlights solar power’s immense potential, though capturing and storing this energy efficiently remains the key challenge.
Today’s solar farms can power cities and rooftop panels give individual homeowners the ability to generate their own electricity.
Bhadla Solar Park in India is currently one of the world’s largest solar farms, covering 22 square miles with an installed capacity of 2,245 MW. That’s enough to power nearly 1.5 million average U.S. homes or 4.5 million average Indian homes. The London Array Wind Farm off the coast of the UK is one of the largest offshore wind farms globally, generating 630 MW of clean energy annually that powers half a million homes. In the U.S. the Johnson Corner Solar Project in Stanton County, Kansas, was the state’s largest solar farm when it opened in 2020, with 27.5 MW capacity powering over 5,000 homes but the Boot Hill Solar Project will soon over take it to become Kansas’s largest commercial solar installation, producing 150 MW to power nearly 44,000 homes.
Energy storage technologies like lithium-ion batteries and energy alternatives such as solid-state or flow batteries ensure that solar energy can be captured and used even when it’s dark outside, contrary to what detractors like Doug Burgum, United States Secretary of the Interior, are claiming, solar is not an intermittent energy source!
Critics like Burgum often argue about intermittency but when solar power is combined with storage and grid upgrades, it can provide a consistent and reliable electricity supply. Harnessing this essentially limitless supply of clean energy will become a cornerstone in the future global economy whether Doug likes it or not!
Renewable Energy Will Power A Clean Future
The evidence is clear: clean energy is healthier, abundant, and is vital for the creation of new jobs in the energy sector. But it is also the only way, long term, that humanity will be able to keep the lights on.
Every new solar panel or wind turbine marks progress toward a future where electricity is reliable, pollution-free, and accessible to all. The choice is no longer between the environment and the economy — we can have both. By investing in renewables today, we unlock innovation and security for generations to come. The clean energy future is already unfolding. The only question is how quickly we choose to embrace it.
Join the movement for a cleaner, healthier future. Sign the Our Power, Our Planet petition
today and demand renewable energy now. In the U.S.? Send a message to your state lawmakers asking them to invest in renewable energy.
