Colorado state Representative Jennifer Bacon demanding action to improve air quality during a press conference held by Conservation Colorado, Protégete and partners in the state capitol.
This year was an incredible year for climate and clean energy wins across the country at the federal, state, and local levels. As we prepare for 2025, we’re taking a look back at the biggest wins of 2024 that highlight the amazing things this movement can accomplish to inspire us to keep fighting in the year ahead.
Credit: Kenueone
Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s affordable clean energy plan, 2024 was the biggest year this country has ever seen for construction and deployment of clean energy. The U.S. has now deployed nearly 300 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy capacity, enough to power 72 million homes, and created over 330,000 new clean energy jobs. Here’s a rundown of the top clean energy milestones from the past year.
The nation’s first large-scale offshore wind project, Vineyard Wind off the coast of Massachusetts, began delivering electricity to the grid in January.
The first commercial-scale offshore wind project, South Fork Wind off the coast of New York, was completed in March and will power more than 70,000 homes.
The Biden-Harris administration approved 11 new offshore wind projects that will provide a total of 19 gigawatts to the grid – more than halfway to their goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
Along the East Coast, energy and infrastructure companies invested a total of $1 billion and counting in offshore wind development.
The Solar for All program awarded a total of $7 billion in grant investments by the Biden-Harris administration to 60 low-income solar energy projects to bring clean, affordable solar energy to over 900,000 households in historically excluded communities.
A Minnesota utility company’s massive solar development began sending electricity to the grid in October. Once fully complete, it will generate enough clean electricity to power over 150,000 homes and partially replace a nearby coal plant that is currently the state’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Oregon approved plans for the largest solar and storage project in the U.S. which will provide 1,200 megawatts of solar energy capacity and 1,200 megawatts of battery storage once completed.
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for the first onshore wave energy project in the U.S. to convert the motion of waves at the Port of Los Angeles into electricity.
Geothermal energy had a breakout year with new project approvals including a 2,000 megawatt geothermal project in California approved as part of a state transmission plan passed in June, and a massive geothermal energy project in Utah which will generate enough clean, renewable electricity to power more than 2 million homes.
Photo courtesy of Chispa
The transportation sector is the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the U.S., so tackling those emissions is crucial to achieving our climate goals. This year, the U.S. made major strides in reducing emissions by advancing clean transportation.
More than 300,000 people (and counting) have been able to save up to $7,500 on their EV purchase as of October 2024 through the Biden-Harris administration’s instant tax credit program.
To expand the nation’s EV charging network, the Department of Energy recently finalized a loan guarantee to support construction of 7,500 electric vehicle (EV) chargers at 1,100 sites across the country.
Other major federal and commercial investments to improve EV charging access this year include a $544 million Department of Energy loan for a Michigan factory to produce materials to reduce long charging times for EVs, federal grants to state and local governments to install more than 9,200 EV chargers nationwide, and LAZ Parking’s plan to install EV chargers in its public parking garages in 20 U.S. cities.
EPA’s Clean School Bus program, which aims to replace polluting diesel school buses with cleaner models, has awarded nearly $3 billion to over 1,300 school districts nationwide to facilitate cleaner, safer air for students and communities.
Thanks to the Clean School Bus program, a school district in California was able to deploy the nation’s first 100% electric school bus fleet in August. In addition to being safer and healthier for students, the fleet will provide 2.1 gigawatt hours of energy back to the grid each year.
EPA released new standards to cut emissions from heavy-duty trucks, buses and other large vehicles earlier this year. The Biden-Harris administration also recently awarded over $700 million in Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle grants to replace polluting diesel trucks and buses nationwide. Pollution from heavy duty vehicles tends to be concentrated in low-income communities and communities of color which are more likely to be located along highways and other major transportation corridors, so reducing emissions from these vehicles is a huge environmental justice win.
Nearly 350 city mayors from both sides of the aisle committed to transitioning at least half of their city’s fleets to electric vehicles by 2030, which will help slash transportation emissions by putting 80,000-100,000 new clean vehicles on the road.
Credit: usfws_alaska
The Biden-Harris administration has done more for conservation than any first-term administration in history, including protecting a historic 41 million acres and counting. Protecting public lands allows unique, native ecosystems and wildlife to flourish and preserves locations important to American history and Tribal heritage. In 2024, the Biden-Harris administration:
Designated the Frances Perkins, Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School, and 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monuments.
Initiated protections for 165,000 acres in the Pecos River Watershed in New Mexico to safeguard the region’s critical wildlife habitats and culturally important lands from new mining claims for the next two years.
Expanded the San Gabriel Mountains and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monuments in California.
Finalized protections for 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska which are culturally important to many Alaska Native Tribes.
Last year also saw significant progress toward protecting public health with new federal efforts to eliminate toxics and reduce pollution.
To eradicate toxic lead exposure and ensure communities nationwide have access to clean, safe drinking water, the Biden-Harris administration has required the replacement of all lead service lines across the country within the next 10 years. To achieve this goal, EPA announced a $3 billion investment to help states locate and replace lead service lines, which disproportionately impact communities of color and communities of low-wealth.
To cut health-harming pollution, the Biden-Harris administration released an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels in the next 10 years.
EPA finalized bans of a variety of chemicals known to cause cancer and other adverse health effects, including all uses of trichloroethylene (TCE) commonly used in cleaning products, lubricants, and glue and all consumer uses of perchloroethylene, which is used in dry-cleaning and automotive products. The agency also proposed a rule to ban most consumer and industrial uses of bromopropane.
EPA issued a new rule to dramatically reduce toxic air pollution from chemical facilities, including ethylene oxide and chloroprene, which elevate risks for cancer and other health issues for nearby communities.
The Biden-Harris administration paused new liquefied methane gas (LNG) exports while the Department of Energy (DOE) conducted a study into the economic and environmental impacts of the practice. The results of the study were released in mid-December made it clear that expansion of LNG exports would be detrimental to both the environment and the U.S. economy.
The environmental movement made phenomenal progress toward protecting people and the planet in 2024, but with a new administration coming to D.C., much of this progress is on the line. In the coming months and years, we must double down on our efforts to maintain the wins of the past administration, and fight for continued progress on climate.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters
