Home / KUNM: Climate Alliance Report Finds Member States Pollute Less Than Rest of Country
“One of them––the U.S. Climate Alliance––is made up of states committed to addressing climate change. It released a report showing New Mexico and the 23 other states under its umbrella are polluting less and saving more energy.
The coalition includes governors from across the political spectrum and across the country –– from New Mexico’s own Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham to Vermont’s Republican Phil Scott.
The group released new findings that show member states pollute less, save more energy, employ more clean energy workers, and are better prepared for climate disasters compared to the rest of the country.
‘So as the political winds shift and legal uncertainty persists in D.C., our governors and our states will be the ones who are continuing to move full speed ahead,’ said Casey Katims, executive director of the Climate Alliance.”
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by President Trump’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 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 continue to demonstrate that climate action goes hand-in-hand with economic growth, job creation, and better public health. 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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