Equity and Environmental Justice in the Clean Energy Transition in the United States

Download or read book Equity and Environmental Justice in the Clean Energy Transition in the United States written by Eleanor Miller Hennessy and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis presents an investigation of equity and environmental justice implications of the transition to clean energy in the United States through a series of analyses of current and future energy systems. In the first chapter we set the groundwork for the dissertation and emphasize the need for rapid decarbonization of the global energy sector while taking into account inequities in our current energy system. In the second chapter we discuss the distribution of health damages associated with electricity consumption and the role of electricity trading. In the third chapter we estimate the health, climate, and environmental justice benefits of freight truck electrification. In the fourth chapter we identify policy strategies that would allow California to meet its climate goals and assess the air quality and environmental justice impacts of each policy. In the fifth chapter we discuss the distribution of electric vehicles and allocation of electric vehicle rebates in California across the state and in formerly redlined neighborhoods and provide an assessment of justice in the state's transition to electric vehicles. In the final chapter we present an overview of the findings and highlight three key takeaways: i) the existence of viable climate solutions; ii) the importance of considering the electric sector and transportation as coupled systems when looking at transportation electrification as a means for decarbonization; and iii) the importance of taking into account sub-national and local inequities to achieve a just transition to clean energy.