The Des Moines City Council unanimously voted this week in favor of a resolution that sets a goal of reaching 24/7 carbon-free electricity by 2035. Credit: Steve Pope/Getty Images Cities setting clean energy goals now have a new leader to emulate: Des Moines, Iowa. The Des Moines city council voted 7-0 on Monday in favor of a resolution that sets a goal of reaching 24/7 carbon-free electricity by 2035, making it probably the first city in the United States, and maybe the first in the world, to pass a plan that emphasizes a target of relying solely on clean energy around-the-clock. The goal will require a combination carbon-free sources, and ditching fossil fuels altogether. The city’s approach is in contrast to the more common policy of cities moving toward 100 percent renewable energy by generating renewable energy or buying renewable energy credits to offset—at least in an accounting sense—whatever fossil fuels they continue to use. We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the web’s top headlines deliver the full story, for free. Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie said the measure is a response to […]
Inside Clean Energy: Des Moines Just Set a New Bar for City Clean Energy Goals

Latest Articles
One Large Pie, Extra Sustainability: Dispelling Pizza Box Recycling Myths
By Jeff Chalovich, chief commercial officer and president, Corrugated Packaging, WestRock Whether delivery or takeout, as a weekday reprieve from cooking or festive...
Rare Amazonian cactus flowers for first time in UK
A rare Amazonian cactus called the moonflower has bloomed for what botanists believe is the first time in the UK. Experts at Cambridge...
Renewable energy could render five of Australia’s remaining coal plants unviable by 2025
Up to five of Australia’s remaining 16 coal power plants could be financially unviable by 2025 due to a flood of cheap solar...
The new green paper sector doesn’t need trees
Canopy executive director Nicole Rycroft stands next to straw bales at Columbia Pulp Mill in Washington. Rycroft photo For Nicole Rycroft, the first...
One Tasmanian’s 54-year obsession to catalogue all of the world’s edible plants to end...
Agricultural scientist Bruce French has been cataloguing food plants for five decades. When agricultural scientist Bruce French was teaching agriculture in Papua New...
Nearly 200 Florida manatees filmed basking in shallow waters with dolphins
Video is unusual in that it captures species that don’t interact often in high numbers as manatee numbers are down Hundreds of Florida...