Powering Forward ─ What Everyone Should Know About America's Energy Revolution

A historic energy revolution is underway in the United States. Sustainable resources such as sunlight and wind are now the most rapidly growing sources of energy in the U.S. as well as worldwide. American families are putting power plants on their roofs. Entire communities are switching to 100% renewable energy. The urgent need to prevent climate change is changing the prospects of carbon-intensive oil, coal and natural gas. In this wide-ranging book, Bill Ritter Jr., the 41st governor of Colorado and one of America’s key thought leaders on this topic, discusses the forces behind the energy revolution, the new ways we must think about energy, and the future of fossil and renewable fuels. Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. draws on his experience in putting his state on the front lines of the energy revolution, as well as his work at the Center for the New Energy Economy with governors, regulators, federal officials and the White House. It is must reading for those who want to understand one of history’s biggest challenges to peace, prosperity and security in the United States.

Bill Ritter, Jr. is the founder and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) at Colorado State University which launched on February 1, 2011. The Center employs an assistant director, five senior policy advisors, an executive assistant and a team of student researchers. The Center works directly with governors, legislators, regulators, planners, policymakers, and other decision makers. It provides technical assistance to help officials create the policies and practices that will facilitate America’s transition to a clean-energy economy. Ritter was elected as Colorado's 41st governor in 2006, and built consensus to tackle some of the state's biggest challenges. During his four-year term, Ritter established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy, by building a new energy economy. He signed 57 new energy bills into law, including a 30% Renewable Portfolio Standard and a Clean Air Clean Jobs Act that replaced nearly a gigawatt of coal-fired generation with natural gas. In total, the Colorado new energy economy created thousands of new jobs. Ritter is a member of the board of the directors of the Energy Foundation and a senior fellow and member of the board of directors of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute. Ritter earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Colorado State University (1978) and his law degree from the University of Colorado (1981). With his wife Jeannie, he operated a food distribution and nutrition center in Zambia. He then served as Denver's district attorney from 1993 to January 2005. The Ritters have four children: August, Abe, Sam, and Tally.