--- title: 2016 Vote: Hillary Clinton Pledges to Install 500 Million Solar Panels description: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made tackling climate change one of her key policy goals Sunday canonical: https://time.com/3972710/hillary-clinton-presidential-election-climate-change/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-27T03:35:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:29:24.518Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Pledges Half a Billion Solar Panels og:description: She also wants every U.S. home powered by renewable energy within a decade. og:url: https://time.com/3972710/hillary-clinton-presidential-election-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd37388d07819e63/69885c8b0b72e357866e519a/hillary-clinton-iowa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waits to be introduced at a house party on July 26, 2015 in Carroll, Iowa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Pledges Half a Billion Solar Panels twitter:description: She also wants every U.S. home powered by renewable energy within a decade. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd37388d07819e63/69885c8b0b72e357866e519a/hillary-clinton-iowa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Pledges to Install 500 Million Solar Panels if Voted President > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=70cd36ba-1b1b-4a91-96de-7d83ee7ef885&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Stand for Reality - Hillary Clinton [Watch (HLS stream): Stand for Reality - Hillary Clinton](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Bvcu7gtd.m3u8) (2:56)  _Published 2015-07-27. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Sunday made tackling climate change one of her key goals if she were voted President, pledging to install more than half a billion solar panels nationwide by the end of her first term in office._ by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Jul 27, 2015 3:35 AM UTC Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Sunday made tackling climate change one of her key goals if she were voted President, pledging to install more than half a billion solar panels nationwide by the end of her first term in office. by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Jul 27, 2015 3:35 AM UTC Democratic presidential [candidate](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/us-usa-election-clinton-energy-idUSKCN0Q00X920150727) Hillary Clinton on Sunday made tackling climate change one of her key goals were she to enter the White House, pledging to have more than half a billion solar panels installed nationwide by the end of her first term in office. Clinton also called for a major increase in other renewable-energy sources, saying she wants every U.S. home to be powered by clean energy within a decade, reports Reuters. “I want more wind, more solar, more advanced biofuels, more energy efficiency,” she said at a weekend rally in Iowa. “And I’ve got to tell you, people who argue against this are just not paying attention.” The two goals were unveiled in a video posted to Clinton’s campaign website Sunday, and are part of a comprehensive agenda on climate change that will be laid out over the next few months. “We are on the cusp of a new era,” she said in the campaign video. “We can have more choice in the energy we consume and produce.” According to the former Secretary of State’s campaign, her climate-change agenda will increase output of solar energy by 700% by the end of the decade. On Monday, the presidential candidate will explain her clean energy plan in more detail at a tour of an energy-efficient transit station in Des Moines, Iowa. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/us-usa-election-clinton-energy-idUSKCN0Q00X920150727)\] ## Transcript [00:02] Future generations will look back and wonder what [00:05] were we thinking? How could we possibly be so [00:09] irresponsible? I'm just a grandmother with two eyes [00:12] and a brain. And I know what's happening in the world [00:15] is going to have a big effect on my daughter, and [00:18] especially on my grandkids. Grand daughter. It's hard [00:22] to believe there are people running for president who [00:25] still refuse to accept the settled science of climate [00:27] change, who would rather remind us they're not [00:30] scientists than listen to those who are. You [00:34] don't have to be a scientist to take on this urgent [00:38] challenge that threatens us all. You just have to be [00:42] willing to act. America has made [00:46] a start in addressing this treat, the renewable energy [00:50] industry prevents as many as 70, 000 asthma attacks [00:55] and 3, 000 premature deaths each year. It [00:59] created over 50, 000 new jobs and drove more than [01:03] $ 35 billion in investment last year alone. [01:08] But we have to do much more and we have to do it [01:12] now. On day one as President I [01:16] will set two ambitious national goals. That will test [01:20] our capacities, but that I know are within our reach. [01:24] First, I will insure we hit a target of having more [01:29] than half a billion solar panels installed [01:33] across the country, by the end of my first term. [01:37] Second, we'll set a ten year goal I'm generating [01:41] enough renewable energy to power every single home [01:45] in America. Over the next few months I will lay out a [01:49] comprehensive agenda to meet the climate challenge [01:51] and make America the worlds clean energy [01:54] superpower. We're all going to have to do our part but [01:57] that's who we are as Americans. Americans. We don't [02:00] hide from change, we harness it. We're on the cusp [02:05] of a new era. We can have more choice in the energy [02:09] we consume and produce. We can create a more [02:12] open, and efficient, and resilient grid that connects us, [02:16] empowers us, and improves our health and benefits us [02:20] All. The decisions we make in the [02:24] next decade can make all of this possible, or [02:31] they can keep us trapped in the past. We [02:35] cannot wait any longer. It's [02:40] time we stand for a healthier Stand for cleaner [02:44] air. For science. For innovation. For our children. For [02:48] reality. For the future. 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