The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) just scored the world’s 16 largest economies on their energy policies and practices. And if there’s one thing ACEEE wants you to know, it’s this: the U.S. is way, way behind the rest of the class.
Germany took the top spot in the ranking, surprising no one. China was another strong performer, in large part because of its highly efficient building codes and standards. Ambitious efficiency standards helped European Union member states round out the top five.
America got 13th.
What gives? The United States just proposed a huge new carbon standard for power plants that opens the door for an efficiency revolution. We’re plugging in our cars and putting solar on our roofs. So why didn’t we score higher?
ACEEE has a 90-page explainer for you. We boiled it down to 16 reasons — and 16 things we could fix that would make the U.S. the world’s most energy-efficient economy.