That did and in some places does still matter. Homes moving away from heating with coal to natural gas reduces smog. Thus it is seen as clean energy. Because everything is cleaner in the true sense of the word clean. Green is often a better predictor.

[–] hsr@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, I get that literally clean energy is important and in many places it would be a significant improvement. It can also be easier to explain that we need to move away from fossil fuels based on tangible pollution, not the nebulous "greenhouse gasses" and "global warming", especially when talking to conservative folks.

Still, I feel like public awareness of the issue is... questionable. Whenever I read about some government program to fund more renewable energy, or hear politiciants discuss it, it's almost always the literal clean, not green clean. Invisible emissions will still mess up our climate, and more people should know that.