Atlanta Leaders Want to Power the City with 100 Percent Clean Energy by 2035. Can it be Done?

Posted April 23, 2018

External Article: The Atlanta Magazine

Marilyn Brown, a professor at the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy, was quoted in the Atlanta Magazine, April 2018, article, “Atlanta Leaders Want to Power the City with 100 Percent Clean Energy by 2035. Can it be Done?” The School of Public Policy is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Last April, a candid moment on the campaign trail thrust Atlanta into the vanguard of an eco-revolution. During a Republican forum at a Buckhead restaurant, Kwanza Hall, then an Atlanta city councilman and mayoral candidate, said he questioned whether all the talk about melting ice caps and stranded polar bears was media overkill. When news reporters asked him for an explanation, Hall claimed that he misspoke—and simultaneously announced plans to introduce legislation committing the city to an ambitious goal: powering all city buildings, including the world’s busiest airport, with nothing but clean energy by 2025, followed by every structure within city limits a decade later. Call it a moment of clarity—or saving face. Regardless, Hall’s council colleagues and mayor Kasim Reed ultimately agreed, and overnight, Atlanta became a trailblazer among southeastern cities. The pledge made for positive headlines, but can a growing urban center of Atlanta’s size really part ways with fossil fuels in the next 17 years? Yes, experts say. But it won’t be easy… Marilyn Brown, a sustainability professor at Georgia Tech and former climate researcher, says technological advancements should definitely help Atlanta achieve its 2035 goal, but cleanly powering all city operations within seven years would be “ahead of its time.” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has promised to keep pushing the initiative, calling upon all Atlantans to help accomplish the goal.

For the full article, visit the Atlanta Magazine website.