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Maryland Governor Larry Hogan this week announced his plans to join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 16 governors committed to reducing their states’ greenhouse gas emissions and working together to meet the goals of the historic Paris climate agreement.
“The importance of aggressive but balanced action in states, communities, and businesses and the need for multi-state collaboration and international leadership on climate change grows stronger every day,” stated Governor Hogan.
Alliance states are showing the nation and the world that ambitious climate action is achievable, and that climate leadership grows economies. Under current policies alone, Alliance states are on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24-29 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Alliance states continue to lead – in upcoming weeks, they will be announcing a range of new actions to accelerate progress towards tackling climate change.
By joining the Alliance, governors commit to:
Maryland is already on a pathway to reduce its emissions 25 percent by 2020, and Governor Hogan is leading the effort to develop a comprehensive plan to meet the even more ambitious goal of a 40 percent reduction by 2030. His climate action leadership has been supported by the establishment of a Maryland Commission on Climate Change that is a “model for bipartisan, science-based climate and energy policy,” according to Hogan. Maryland is also a member of the bipartisan Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a regional carbon trading market that caps emissions from power plants, and strategically invests those resources into clean energy and the environment.
New U.S. Climate Alliance Executive Director Julie Cerqueira welcomed Governor Hogan’s announcement, noting, “By seeking solutions to today’s climate challenges, Alliance governors from both parties are driving innovation, attracting investment, and transforming markets in ways that grow their economies and create jobs.”
The climate and clean energy policies in Alliance states have attracted billions of dollars of new investment and helped create more than 1.3 million clean energy jobs. “In Maryland, we are living proof that it is possible to both protect the natural world around us while also fostering a pro-jobs and vibrant economic opportunity environment,” according to Governor Hogan.
The U.S. Climate Alliance’s 2017 Annual Report shows that Alliance states are not only outpacing non-Alliance states in reducing their emissions, they are also growing their economies at a faster pace. Between 2005 and 2015, per capita economic output in Alliance states expanded twice as fast as in the rest of the country.
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the previous administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, at least 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, and collectively achieve overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as practicable, and no later than 2050.
The Alliance’s states and territories continue to demonstrate that climate action goes hand-in-hand with economic growth, job creation, and better public health. While reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions by 19%, Alliance members increased their collective GDP by 30%. The coalition’s states and territories are employing more workers in the clean energy sector, achieving lower levels of dangerous air pollutants, and preparing more effectively for climate impacts and executing more pre-disaster planning than the rest of the country.
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