People in the United States may seem divided, but when it comes to protecting the planet, 25 governors have joined forces to support the Paris Agreement on climate change. Four years ago on June 1, 2017, when the Trump administration announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the governors of California, Washington, and New York stepped up to support the international agreement. Since then, the U.S. Climate Alliance has grown to represent 24 states and Puerto Rico, and it continues to gain members.
Here are 7 key actions on climate change that states in the U.S. Climate Alliance have taken:
1. Established ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
All states that join the Alliance agree to implement policies that advance the goals of the Paris Agreement at least a 26-28% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2025 but many are pushing reductions even further. California, for example, set a statewide target to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. New Mexico established a statewide goal of reducing GHG emissions by 45% below 2005 levels by 2030
2. Signed legislation that ramps up renewable energy:
Clean energy is essential to reducing pollution and creating jobs and states in the alliance are accelerating the green economy. Nevada passed a bill to increase the amount of electricity it gets from renewable sources to 50% by 2030. And in Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan announced a new set of policy proposals that will lead Minnesota to 100% clean energy in the state’s electricity sector by 2050.
3. Pushed for better energy efficiency:
Homes and commercial buildings account for 40% of total energy use in the U.S., which makes energy efficiency a crucial part of any state’s plan to mitigate climate change. In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation that establishes a first-of-its-kind standard that will improve the energy performance of thousands of large commercial buildings across the state.
4. Accelerated policies for Zero Emission Vehicles:
Alliance states lead the nation in reducing passenger vehicle emissions, the largest source of emissions in the transportation sector. In May 2019, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission unanimously voted to initiate a decision that would require auto manufacturers to make electric vehicles 5% of their vehicles for sale in Colorado by 2023. Hawaii’s legislature passed a bill that provides rebates to people who install a new electric vehicle charging system or upgrade an existing system. The bill also includes adopting more advanced technologies such as use of carbon fibre etc. to make more reliable systems.
5. Proposed regulations to cut harmful air pollutants:
Although pollution from carbon dioxide receives the most attention, short-lived climate pollutants, such as black carbon, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), also pose key challenges to climate and health. In 2019, Virginia announced plans to limit methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure and landfills. Connecticut, Maryland, and New York plan to propose regulations in 2019 that will prohibit the use of harmful HFCs and backstop federal rollbacks; and Washington and Vermont recently passed similar legislation.
6. Created new financing opportunities for clean energy and resilient communities:
In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker signed bipartisan legislation to authorize over $2.4 billion in investments for safeguarding residents, municipalities, and businesses from the impacts of climate change, as well as protecting environmental resources and improving recreational opportunities. And Colorado launched a new “Green Bank” that will leverage money from the private sector to spur investment in clean-energy projects.
7. Developed special tools and resources to help the state address climate change:
To track their progress on climate action and assess the risks from impacts states need special tools and resources. In North Carolina, for example, Governor Roy Cooper released the state Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which tracks and projects future emissions. The state also created a new Coastal Adaptation and Resiliency website to help North Carolina’s coastal communities manage challenges from climate impacts, such as rising sea levels.
8.Making laws to curb air pollution:
The U.S. has taken some actions at the federal level to curb emissions, including new nationwide fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. Individual states also have laws designed to lower their emissions in the coming decades. California has the most ambitious plan: Starting in 2013, the state will cap greenhouse gas emissions from factories and power plants, and, eventually, emissions from vehicles.
The U.S. pledged to reduce emissions by 17 percent by 2020.
9. Implementing the Biden-Harris climate plan:
The Biden-Harris climate plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector to net zero by 2035. While 62 major utilities in the U.S. have set their own emission reduction goals, most leaders in that sector would argue that requiring net zero emissions by 2035 is too much too fast. One problem is that states are often more involved in regulating the power sector than the federal government. And, when federal regulations are passed, they are often challenged in court, meaning they can take years to implement. Reducing greenhouse gases also requires modernizing the electricity transmission grid. The federal government can streamline the permitting process to allow more clean energy, like wind and solar power, onto the grid. Without that intervention, it could take a decade or more to permit a single transmission line.
10. 100 percent clean policies by state as of April 2020:
In April, Virginia became the latest state and the first state in the South to enact 100 percent clean energy legislation. The Virginia Clean Economy Act commits to slashing greenhouse gas pollution in the power sector, sets some of the most ambitious targets for energy storage and offshore wind energy deployment in the country, and codified into law the governor’s 2019 executive order for 100 percent clean electricity.18 Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has also committed his state to passing 100 percent clean energy legislation this year.
Meanwhile, 2019 was a banner year for state climate leadership: Seven governors and the Washington, D.C., mayor signed 100 percent clean energy bills. Governors such as Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) created new state climate offices and reorganized their agencies to take on the climate crisis while Washington state enacted various sector-specific clean energy policies for power, transportation, buildings, and industrial sources. And New York, Colorado, and Maine all locked in groundbreaking policies requiring state regulators to implement new rules guaranteeing economy wide cuts in greenhouse gas pollution and to support front-line communities and workers in the energy transition.
