Renewables currently provide just over 6 percent of US energy demand, but that figure will rapidly increase. Since 1995 annual global investment in ‘new’ renewable sources has risen almost six-fold, accumulating to nearly $180 billion. The report sees oil prices soaring, the security risks of petroleum dependence growing and the environmental costs of current fuels becoming more apparent. The US could very well prepare for a sustainable future because it boasts some of the world's best renewable energy resources. For example, one-quarter of US land area has winds powerful enough to generate electricity as cheaply as natural gas and coal.

All but four US states now have incentives in place to promote renewable energy, while more than a dozen have enacted new renewable energy laws in the past few years. At present California gets 31 percent of its power from renewable resources (12 percent of which is from non-hydro sources), while the US led the world in wind energy installation in 2005.