- In The News
- November 2024
Bloomberg Law: States Embrace Climate Leadership as Trump Heads to White House
November 12, 2024
Bloomberg Law writes about how the climate community, including U.S. Climate Alliance governors, will continue progress during the incoming presidential administration.
“States work closely with environmental policy — the Environmental Protection Agency tasks them with implementing new regulations that roll down. But they’re about to take on a new, critical role in guarding their resources, said Kim Coble, co-chair of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change.
‘There’s no doubt that things shifted dramatically,’ she said, referring to the presidential election. ‘States are the safety net to ensuring that our country continues to make progress over the next four years.’
Several states this year preserved key environmental programs in the voting booth. Washington state residents voted to keep the state’s carbon-slashing cap-and-invest program; Minnesota voters extended a program aimed at protecting air, water, and wildlife; and Wisconsin rejected a bid to limit governors’ ability to spend federal dollars, including climate dollars.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also called a special session to begin Dec. 2 to shore up state policies before Trump takes office.
‘Governors filled the void of leadership during President-elect Trump’s first term, and Americans can be assured we’re prepared to fill it again,’ New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in the US Climate Alliance statement.”
About the Alliance
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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