WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance — New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham — issued the following statement in response to the President’s executive order targeting state authority:
“The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority. We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred. We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer.”
The Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors — representing nearly 55% of the U.S. population and 60% of the U.S. economy — all committed to securing America’s net-zero future through state-led, high-impact climate action. Since its creation in 2017, the coalition has been a cross-cutting, consistent source of leadership to uphold U.S. climate action both domestically and abroad.
The Alliance has vowed to protect America’s progress and to sustain and advance climate action on a number of occasions in recent months, including in a letter from the Alliance’s co-chairs to UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell; ahead of the presidential inauguration; at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29); after the election in statements from its co-chairs and with America’s other top subnational climate action coalitions; and in a video featuring governors on its executive committee.
Launched in 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent by 2025, 50-52 percent by 2030, and 61-66 percent by 2035, all below 2005 levels, 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 advance innovative and impactful climate solutions to grow the economy, create jobs, and protect public health, and have a long record of action and results. In fact, the latest data shows that as of 2023, the Alliance has reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing collective GDP by 34 percent, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal of reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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