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“Yet he may not be as successful as he hopes, because states will once again take action. Their efforts, often led by California, have among other things pushed utilities to move away from fossil fuels, limited tailpipe emissions, and mandated energy-efficiency rules for buildings. It’s here, at the state level, where climate progress will continue, or even accelerate, in the years ahead.
‘The way that our federalism works is, states have quite a lot of power to take action to both reduce carbon pollution and to protect residents from climate impacts,’ said Wade Crowfoot, head of California’s Natural Resources Agency. ‘So regardless of who is president, states like California have been driving forward and will continue to drive forward.’
Such action occurred regularly in Trump’s first term. In 2017, a bipartisan coalition of governors launched the U.S. Climate Alliance to collaborate on policies to address the crisis. That coalition now includes two dozen states that are chasing 10 priorities, including reducing greenhouse gases, setting more efficient building standards, and advancing environmental justice.
‘Governors have filled the void left by President Trump before, and are absolutely prepared to do it again,’ said Casey Katims, executive director of the alliance. ‘A change in federal leadership really underscores the importance of state and local action over the next four years.’ Governors have a strong mandate, too: A 2017 poll found that 66 percent of Americans think that in the absence of federal climate action, it’s their state’s responsibility to step in.”
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by President Trump’s initial 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 net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% by 2025, 50-52% by 2030, and 61-66% 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 will 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 Alliance reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 19% between 2005 and 2022, while increasing collective GDP by 30%, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal by reducing collective GHG emissions 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. 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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