“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.”