Alumni Action Alert: Why Walmart should go big on solar

Many alumni asked us over the years for more opportunities to get engaged in important issues. Now we send an Alumni Action Alert each month on a particular issue or campaign The Public Interest Network is working on, along with some actions that you can take to help protect the environment, public health or the public interest.

The issue: To protect our communities and the future of our planet, we must move away from our dependence on fossil fuels, and businesses have a big role to play in that transition towards renewable energy sources like solar.

Quick hit action: Sign this Environment America petition calling on Walmart to continue its leadership among America's retailers by committing to put solar on its 5,000+ United States locations by 2035.

Context: To work well, solar panels need space. The roofs and parking lots of Walmart's vast big-box stores have just that.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the United States, and 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of one of its locations. Based on a 2016 report from Environment America Research & Policy Center, Walmart could install approximately 5,844 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar capacity, which is equivalent to the power consumed by 660,000 American households per year.

In 2014, the company set a goal of installing nearly 500 on-site solar projects at U.S. Walmart stores, Sam’s Club locations and distribution centers by 2020. Through 2019, the company was the nation’s second-largest business installer of on-site solar panels, just behind Target. A commitment to put solar panels on nearly all of its stores, distribution centers and accompanying parking lots by 2035 would position Walmart as a national corporate leader in transitioning to renewable energy and push other companies to follow suit.

As Susan Rakov, Frontier Group executive director and chair of the 100% Renewable Energy Campaign at Environment America Research & Policy Center explains, “Walmart’s giant rooftops and parking lots are perfect places to generate clean, renewable energy, which will not only power the stores, but also clean up the air and create an emergency power source for the surrounding community."

Action you can take: Join our call by signing this petition asking Walmart to go big on solar.