How Biden's zero-carbon revolution would broaden the energy map

President Joe Biden's push for a green power revolution could expand the economic benefits of energy production to a significantly broader swath of communities across America -- if he can maneuver past the blockade of fossil-fuel-producing states that has prevented congressional action on climate change for years.

Included in Biden's massive $2 trillion infrastructure package is a provision that would require every state to generate all of its electricity by 2035 from fuels that do not produce any of the carbon emissions linked to global climate change. Such a transition would trigger a massive spending boom in wind and solar power -- at least doubling the pace of investment now underway -- and that could disperse opportunity for energy-related jobs across many more states than benefit today, energy experts say. The reason: While relatively few states now dominate the production of the oil, coal and natural gas that currently provide most of the nation's power, far more states are positioned to generate significant amounts of solar, on- or off-shore wind and other sources of carbon-free power, according to a recent study by the Decarb America Research Initiative that modeled the nation's energy usage through 2050 under a plan like Biden's.