The climate crisis continues to inflict disproportionate harm on marginalized communities, who suffer the worst consequences of fossil-fuel pollution and systemic environmental neglect. As the United States struggles to break its destructive reliance on fossil fuels, energy advocates are pointing to an obvious, yet largely ignored, solution sitting right in our neighborhoods: the massive, empty rooftops of big-box stores and shopping malls. Retail giants like Walmart, Target, and Costco sit on millions of square feet of concrete space that could be transformed into clean energy hubs, slashing emissions and funding vital community investments.

A report by the non-profit organization Environment America and the research firm Frontier Group reveals the staggering scale of this corporate-controlled resource. The study found that big-box stores and shopping centers possess enough collective roof space to generate half of their annual electricity needs from solar power. If we fully leveraged this rooftop solar potential, it would produce enough clean energy to power nearly 8 million average homes. This simple transition would eliminate the same amount of planet-warming emissions as removing 11.3 million gasoline-powered cars from our roads, offering a major victory for environmental justice.

We already have proof of how successful this model can be when corporations are held accountable to sustainability goals. At the IKEA store in Baltimore, a comprehensive solar installation on the roof and over the parking lot cut the store’s purchased grid energy by an incredible 84%. This localized green energy production slashed the store’s energy costs by 57% between September and December of 2020. Additionally, the parking lot solar canopies provide shade for working-class families’ vehicles on hot days, demonstrating a direct, community-level benefit. As of February 2021, IKEA had installed solar arrays across 90% of its US locations, proving that widespread adoption is entirely possible.

To grasp the sheer size of the wasted space, consider the average Walmart store. The Environment America and Frontier Group report notes that a single Walmart has about 180,000 square feet of rooftop space—the equivalent of three full football fields. Utilizing just one of these rooftops for solar could generate enough clean electricity to power 200 homes. Yet, these vast expanses of space remain empty, baked by the sun, while nearby working-class neighborhoods continue to rely on dirty, centralized fossil-fuel power plants.