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“Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed into law Wednesday an ambitious climate and energy package that cements the state as a new environmental policy leader.
The legislation, HF 2310, was part of the state’s $72 billion budget deal. The package includes strict regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), $20 million to kick off the state’s new green bank, and new incentives for electric vehicles.
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s newly won control of the governor’s office in tandem with the House and Senate paid off with climate policy that is ‘nothing short of transformational,’ said Casey Katims, executive director of the US Climate Alliance.
‘Climate action of this scale doesn’t happen on its own,’ he said. ‘Governors can do so much more so much faster when they have climate champions in the legislature.’”
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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